Jesse Floyd
Vanessa Przysiecki was a study of concentration as the toddler reached down to grab the bright pink fuzzball on a tray full of different-sized puffballs. Using a pair of plastic chopsticks, she caught the piece and started lifting it from the bin.
Vanessa and her family were among the hundreds of people thronged along Leonard Street Sunday afternoon for the Belmont Pan-Asian Coalition Lunar New Year Celebration.
Her mom, Jessica, said the 3 ½ year old made it clear where the family would spend Sunday.
At the Global Montessori on Clark Street, Vanessa takes Chinese language classes.
“When she heard about this, she was like, ‘Let’s go now,’” Jessica said.
The school, she said, does a great job teaching the language and building interest in cultural exchanges like the one held on Sunday.
Set up in Belmont Center, there were booths for multiple organizations and businesses of all types. Some offered games to draw in kids. Some offered grownups information from groups such as the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence, The Belmont Women’s Club, and the Formosa Association of Student Cultural Ambassadors.
Adding to the enthusiasm was a parade put on by the Chinese American Heritage Foundation. It started in Chinatown and wound through Cambridge, Belmont, Somerville, and Malden. Brig. Gen. Joseph Milano, the honorary consul general of Thailand, was the parade grand marshal.
“At every stop along the way, there is a Lion Dance,” said Belmont Pan-Asian Coalition President Julie Wu.
The coalition formed in 2021, according to its website. This Lunar New Year Celebration was the third. Each year, the event gets a little bigger, offering broader examples of Asian cultures, Wu said.
The biggest crowds of the day stood shoulder-to-shoulder, watching different groups perform. There was a Lion Dance by Tiger Crane Kung Fu, a Korean Fan Dance, an ensemble featuring erhu (a two-stringed Chinese violin), and a Tibetan group called Ex-TIPA.
Each of the performers has ties to Belmont, Wu said.
The Erhu and Violin Ensemble consisted of seventh-grader Kayla Hum and eighth-grader Alexis Zhang on erhu, and ninth-grader Trevor Hum on violin. All are members of the Boston Chinese Music Association Youth Orchestra.
Jun Koh, the owner of Lord’s Cleaners in Belmont, put Wu in touch with the Boston Korean Traditional Dance Group. Phuni Meston, the owner of Karma Fine Crafts in Belmont, connected Wu to the group Ex-TIPA, and Tiger Crane Kung Fu came through Wu’s Martial Arts of Belmont.
The BPAC plans to expand the event again next year.
“Dan Tanabat of Patou Thai in Belmont, another sponsor, is saying he would like to connect us to Thai dancers he knows so that next year we’ll have Thai dance, too,” Wu said.
