This past Friday, the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) and the Chinese American Student Union (CASU) came together to host this year’s Lunar Festival in the Mandela Room.

Upon entering, attendees were given a red envelope with a piece of candy inside — signaling a typical Lunar Festival tradition where friends and family receive these envelopes, usually with money, to symbolize prosperity and best wishes for the new year.

Francene Olegario, publicity chair for VSA and a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience, described what bringing the Lunar Festival to Binghamton University means for the community.

“We’re able to cultivate a safe space for other Asian students that might have not been able to go back to the city to celebrate Lunar New Year with their family,” Olegario said. “I think it really means a lot that students can come together and celebrate, even though some people might not celebrate the holiday themselves.”

Attendees were invited to play a variety of both Vietnamese and Chinese games. Vietnamese games included Tiên Len, a card game where the goal is to be the first to empty their hands by playing different combinations like pairs or runs and Bầu Cua Tôm Cá, a gambling game where individuals must bet on what six animals will be visible after the board is spun.

Chinese games included Chinese poker where players place 13 cards into three separate hands and compete to have the highest ranking combinations against their opponents’ hands as well as pin the trail on the dragon, in honor of 2024 being the year of the dragon.

Hannah Nguyen, senior advisor for VSA and a senior majoring in chemistry, shared her favorite tradition of Lunar New Year.

“I know it’s very tacky to say, but the food,” Nguyen said. “At home, my family and I would go around with the food that we cook and we would go around our house and pray to bless our food and give our ancestors their blessing before we eat and then after that, we would eat the food ourselves.”

Both organizations provided guests with traditional Vietnamese and Chinese food. VSA had Bún Gà Nướng, a vermicelli noodle dish that is typically served with lemongrass chicken and nước chấm, a dipping sauce that can have the flavor combinations of sweet, salty, spicy and savory. CASU had mango sago, a refreshing cold treat that includes mango, condensed milk, coconut milk and tapioca.

Tom Huang, co-cultural chair for CASU and a junior majoring in biology, described the process of putting together the event.

“The biggest thing for us was figuring out what style of event we wanted to do,” Huang said. “Last year it was less like a fair and more like stations where you could do different DIYs. We wanted to have more of an interactive experience and once we figured that out, it was pretty easy from there.”

Nguyen added on to the logistics behind the event.

“It was a lot to consider,” Nguyen said. “A lot of factors and a lot of things that came up that we didn’t expect, but we handled them well. I think it was fun to think about how we could change Lunar New Year this year to make it better from last year so we put in more games, we added a ticket prize system and I’m really satisfied with how it came out.”

There were also two photo opportunities for guests, one with a VSA backdrop and another for CASU. Both places included string lights and props like red lanterns.

Thomas Li, co-cultural chair for CASU and a sophomore majoring in biology, described why he joined CASU.

“I came here looking for Asian friends because I went to a primarily white school, so I wanted to get more in touch with my culture and what I grew up with,” Li said. “My parents were immigrants, and they were really big on passing down traditions, so what I wanted to do as a cultural chair was to spread cultural awareness to everybody else on campus and make sure everybody else knows about Chinese culture.”

Tina Nguyen, co-cultural chair of VSA and a sophomore majoring in computer science, described what she hopes guests take away from the event.

“I hope that attendees get a taste of both cultures because we are different even though we’re in the relatively same area,” Nguyen said. “I hope they can get a taste of our games and get to know more about our cultures and be well-rounded.”