By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
On Sunday afternoon, Del Rio will celebrate “The Year of the Tiger” with a traditional Chinese New Year Parade on South Main Street.
The parade is free and open to the public and begins at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The parade will begin at the BBVA Compass Bank parking lot at 525 S. Main St., and end at the Stern building at 757 S. Main St.
Onlookers and parade participants are asked to wear something red for good luck, said parade organizer and Del Rio’s unofficial “Chinese ambassador,” Diane Stern.
Stern and her husband, Del Rio attorney Jack Stern, have organized, funded and produced the Chinese New Year parade here for about 15 years. Stern has said she began the parade as a way of bringing a taste of her native Chinese culture to the Texas-Mexico border.
Sunday’s celebration also includes a performance of traditional Chinese dances at the Paul Poag Theatre for the Performing Arts, 746 S. Main St., at 4 p.m.
In announcing this year’s celebration, Stern said, “Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year. It is the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar.”
She added the festival “signals the beginning of spring and the start of a new year according to the Chinese lunar calendar.”
Stern said, “The New Year celebration is centered around removing the bad and the old and welcoming the new and the good. It’s a time to worship ancestors, exorcise evil spirits and pray for a good harvest.”
Stern said in Chinese tradition, every year is named for one of the 12 animals featured in the Chinese zodiac, which include rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
