For the sixth year in a row, the Sedona Korean American Association will hold its Lunar New Year Festival at the Sedona Meditation Center at 340 Jordan Road in Uptown.
It will welcome the Year of the Monkey on Saturday, Jan. 30, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with Asian food, games and old favorites such as fortune telling, fortune calligraphy and qigong demonstrations, as well as a lion dance by the Arizona White Crane Lion Dance Team based in Chandler.
New this year will be a traditional Asian tea ceremony. At this free multicultural event, visitors will also be able to watch several short Asian films and win raffle prizes.
Sedona Mayor Sandy Moriarty and Jennifer Wesselhoff, president and CEO of the Sedona Chamber of Commerce, will be present to deliver congratulatory speeches in celebration of the Lunar New Year.
According to its website, in all of its activities, the Sedona Korean American Association endeavors to promote and preserve beautiful Sedona with various other district and ethnic organizations to pursue the spirit of Hongik, “a Korea founding philosophy translated in love for humanity and love for the Earth.”
In line with this purpose, the Sedona Korean American Association will sponsor the Earth Citizens Organization at this year’s Lunar New Year Festival.
ECO is a local nonprofit that develops community leaders who teach and promote mindful living for a sustainable world. ECO will be at the event to provide information and collect donations for its activities.
The group is asking guests to recognize that each person is an Earth citizen, or someone who acknowledges the Earth as central value and accepts his role as a stakeholder in the well-being of the planet and all life forms on it.
RSVP for the festival by calling the Sedona Meditation Center at 282-3600.
