On Feb. 16, the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) welcomed hundreds of students, faculty, staff and community members to the 2018 Spring Festival Gala. This annual event, organized by the CSSA, celebrates the Lunar New Year. This year begins the year of the Dog.
The hosts of the 2018 Spring Festival
The Spring Festival is the largest and most important festival in China, with a history of more than 3,000 years. The celebration traditionally includes dinner with family, visiting relatives, decorations and exchanging gifts. On campus, the CSSA hosts the celebration as an opportunity for Chinese students to celebrate together and share Chinese culture with the campus and global community in Syracuse.
This year’s event included authentic Chinese food, performances and traditional crosstalk. Students sang songs, played instruments, danced, performed magic tricks and engaged the audience in games. New this year, students performed a short play with meticulous clothes and makeup. CSSA members prepared and practiced during the start of the spring semester leading up to the celebration.
“The planning process started from sifting out the performances and distributing duties inside the entertainment department, to the rehearsals and final performance. During that process, everyone devoted a lot of time and worked late to double check the process, the lights, the props and many other aspects that the ceremony needs,” says Feng Chen ’19, a student in the School of Information Studies and one of the event organizers.
Reflecting on CSSA’s efforts, Ying Lin, enrollment management research director and advisor to CSSA shared, “It is impressive to see how CSSA members and volunteers were able to, in a short amount of time since they returned from winter break, present a night of outstanding performance and bring together the local Chinese community as well as the greater Syracuse community to celebrate Lunar New Year. Their efforts create a home away from home for our Chinese students during this most important and celebratory festival of their culture.”
