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Hockessin Chinese Festival builds bonds in drawing from near
USINFO | 2013-07-30 15:59
The weather gods were kind to at least one Delaware festival on Sunday.
Dancers in bright yellow silk pants were able to swirl about a paved lot adjacent to the Chinese-American Community Center in Hockessin to squeeze in two performances of the intricate dragon dance during the third and final day of the 2013 Chinese Festival, while 60,000-odd music fans got drenched by a mid-afternoon storm at the Firefly Music Festival in Dover.
The three-day ethnic festival featured a collage of jade, painting, arts and crafts displays along with performances and fresh-cooked barbeque. The aim is to promote Chinese culture, traditions and family values.
“We want to introduce the Chinese culture to the community at large,” said Ta-Chen Mo, festival director and chairman of the community center, where the event was held.
The gathering also gives Chinese-Americans in the area an opportunity to gather and mingle in strengthening their bonds to the community.
“People know each other; people help each other,” Ta-Chen said.
One of the main reasons for the festival, however, is embodied in the young people who pounded large drums or ran, stooped and leaped as they carried the long, gayly colored serpent on poles during the dragon dance or gracefully fluttered about the auditorium stage to entertain a packed house with a dance called “Playful Hankerchiefs.”
“We want to educate our next generation,” said Ta-Chen, a Hockessin resident who retires at the end of the month following 30 years at DuPont Co. “Through the exhibits, through the program.”
He says the Chinese community wants to be involved in mainstream American culture and wants its children to be similarly involved. But it also wants them to know their heritage.
“America is a melting pot,” Ta-Chen said. “We’re definitely all Americans. But in the meantime, we also want our kids to learn some good tradition.”
Kevin Pei, a University of Delaware junior, was one of the dragon dance drummers. He said he was involved to help keep up such traditions.
Dancers in bright yellow silk pants were able to swirl about a paved lot adjacent to the Chinese-American Community Center in Hockessin to squeeze in two performances of the intricate dragon dance during the third and final day of the 2013 Chinese Festival, while 60,000-odd music fans got drenched by a mid-afternoon storm at the Firefly Music Festival in Dover.
The three-day ethnic festival featured a collage of jade, painting, arts and crafts displays along with performances and fresh-cooked barbeque. The aim is to promote Chinese culture, traditions and family values.
“We want to introduce the Chinese culture to the community at large,” said Ta-Chen Mo, festival director and chairman of the community center, where the event was held.
The gathering also gives Chinese-Americans in the area an opportunity to gather and mingle in strengthening their bonds to the community.
“People know each other; people help each other,” Ta-Chen said.
One of the main reasons for the festival, however, is embodied in the young people who pounded large drums or ran, stooped and leaped as they carried the long, gayly colored serpent on poles during the dragon dance or gracefully fluttered about the auditorium stage to entertain a packed house with a dance called “Playful Hankerchiefs.”
“We want to educate our next generation,” said Ta-Chen, a Hockessin resident who retires at the end of the month following 30 years at DuPont Co. “Through the exhibits, through the program.”
He says the Chinese community wants to be involved in mainstream American culture and wants its children to be similarly involved. But it also wants them to know their heritage.
“America is a melting pot,” Ta-Chen said. “We’re definitely all Americans. But in the meantime, we also want our kids to learn some good tradition.”
Kevin Pei, a University of Delaware junior, was one of the dragon dance drummers. He said he was involved to help keep up such traditions.
