Celebrate Lunar New Year with everyone in the ID

Last updated 1-15-09 at 1:57 p.m.

By Staff
Northwest Asian Weekly

For the first year ever, every business in the International District is coming together to celebrate the Lunar New Year. The Chinatown International District Business Improvement Area (CIDBIA) has decided to move its Seattle Chinatown-International District Lunar New Year Celebration out in the open rather than having it in the King Street Station.

What spurred this change? CIDBIA wanted to be more inclusive.
Though past Lunar celebrations have been successful, CIDBIA felt that parts of the International District missed out on the fun because many businesses could not attend the events.

So CIDBIA decided to bring the event to the businesses. Rather than housing the event inside a building, Lunar New Year will be outdoors, where patrons and attendees can walk around and peruse all the eateries and shops in the area. The festivities will start under the Chinatown Gate with lion dances this year.

CIDBIA decided against using the usual vendors for the event. Changing it up for Lunar New Year 2009, the local businesses in the ID will be the vendors. This is all in an effort to show everyone in the greater- Seattle area the unique and diverse organizations located in the ID.

Each business in the district will also do its part by doing something special to entice people to visit.

Northwest Asian Weekly and the Seattle Chinese Post will decorate its lobby with red lucky money envelopes. We are also planning on putting out a good fortune tree for pedestrians to put a wish on. In a partnership with the Seattle Art Museum, we will presenting quick five-minute art activities for all ages. Event favors will be plentiful, so the newspapers hope that many people will make the trip to the news building, located on Maynard Avenue, right off South Jackson Street. (end)

For more information, visit www.cidbia.org.

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