{"id":180345,"date":"2026-03-06T05:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T05:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/180345\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T05:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T05:36:10","slug":"aasas-lunar-new-year-festival-rings-in-the-year-of-the-fire-horse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/180345\/","title":{"rendered":"AASA\u2019s Lunar New Year Festival rings in the year of the Fire Horse"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Lee Koon Hung Kung Fu lion dance performers at the Lakeside Patio stage on Feb. 20, 2026. Photo Credit \/\/ Olivia Attalla<\/p>\n

The University of Miami\u2019s Lakeside Patio glowed red and gold on Friday, Feb. 20 as drums thundered, paper lanterns swayed in the breeze and hundreds of students gathered for one of campus\u2019 most beloved cultural traditions: the Asian American Student Association\u2019s annual Lunar New Year Festival.<\/p>\n

While the Lunar New Year officially began on Feb. 17, AASA hosted its celebration on Feb. 20 so students could honor the holiday collectively on campus.<\/p>\n

Now in its 14th year, the event has grown into AASA\u2019s largest celebration, drawing between 400 and 500 attendees. This year carried an added layer of rarity and symbolism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the first time in six decades, the Lunar New Year welcomed the Year of the Fire Horse<\/a> \u2014 a zodiac cycle historically associated with fierce independence, transformative energy and a kind of unstoppable momentum that defines entire generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year is more about going in with a stronger mindset,\u201d Keira Tellado, AASA president and a junior studying industrial engineering, said. \u201cPrevious years are meant for clearing the slate, but the Fire Horse is about renewal. It only comes every 60 years, so it feels special to celebrate it with the whole community.\u201d<\/p>\n

AASA transformed the Lakeside Patio into a bustling cultural fair, with ten student organizations hosting interactive tables. Students collected stamps by completing activities, everything from origami stars to cultural trivia, before redeeming them for free Asian cuisine and boba.<\/p>\n

The lineup of eight multicultural student organizations tabling at the event reflected the range of UM\u2019s Asian and international communities.<\/p>\n

For many of those organizations, the event was both a celebration and a milestone. The Vietnamese Student Association for example, is only in its first official semester as a COSO\u2011approved organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year we were running as an unofficial group,\u201d Katie Wang, VSA\u2019s president and founder, said. \u201cNow that we\u2019re approved and getting funding, we hope to do more Vietnamese\u2011oriented events.\u201d<\/p>\n

VSA\u2019s table featured origami, specifically folded paper stars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe star is on the Vietnamese flag,\u201d Wang said. \u201cIt was the easiest option for us this year, but we\u2019re excited to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearby, the Filipino Student Assocaition revived one of its traditional activities: candle balancing, a practice rooted in Filipino folk dance. Elijah Corpus, a sophomore and general E\u2011board member at FSA, told students the significance of the dance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Candle dances symbolized storytelling through light, with performers balancing flames on their heads or hands to honor resilience, spirituality and the idea that movement can carry not just the body, but the soul.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to be more active this semester and bring the club back,\u201d Corpus said. \u201cFSA is an extension of AASA, but we focus on bringing together the Filipino community on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Multicultural student organizations showed students cultural activities and food from their communities. Photo Credit \/\/ Olivia Attalla.<\/p>\n

As the evening grew later, the festival shifted into its performances \u2014 one of the most anticipated parts of the evening. AASA brought together a mix of professional performers, student artists and cultural groups.<\/p>\n

The lion dance, AASA\u2019s traditional opener, performed by Lee Koon Hung Kung Fu drew one of the largest crowds of the night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our big opening act,\u201d Tellado said. \u201cLocked [UM\u2019s student K-pop dance team] is a group I\u2019m also excited for. They perform every year and bring a lot of traction. I have friends in it, so it\u2019s always fun to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

The performances ranged from high\u2011energy drumming, to contemporary dance from Locked, and onto martial arts demonstrations, each one adding a different cultural lens to the celebration.<\/p>\n

What began as a modest cultural gathering has evolved into one of UM\u2019s most anticipated spring events. Students return year after year, Tellado said, and many have watched the festival expand in scale, diversity and visibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our biggest event of the year,\u201d Tellado said. \u201cPeople really love it, and they keep coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n

For first\u2011year students experiencing Lunar New Year away from home, the festival offered a sense of belonging. For others, it was a chance to learn, taste and participate in traditions they may not have grown up with.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For AASA, it was a moment to showcase the vibrancy and range of Asian cultures on campus.<\/p>\n

As the Fire Horse year began, defined by courage, reinvention and collective momentum, the night closed on a scene that felt both celebratory and grounding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Drums pulsed like a heartbeat across the patio, lanterns cast warm halos over students sharing food and stories, performers bowed, friends reunited and the community moved together into a new year shaped by light, intention and possibility.<\/p>\n

To see AASA\u2019s upcoming and future events, go to their Instagram: @aasaum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lee Koon Hung Kung Fu lion dance performers at the Lakeside Patio stage on Feb. 20, 2026. Photo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-180345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}