Thursday marks the start of Chinese Lunar New Year, one of the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. Spanning 15 days until March 5, Lunar New Year is also the longest national holiday in China. China isn’t the only country ringing in the Year of the Goat (or sheep) — the Korean, Mongolian, Tibetan and Vietnamese are just some of the other cultures whose celebrations are based on the Chinese lunisolar calendar.

At a campus with such a large Asian population, many organizations and individuals celebrate it in the Champaign-Urbana area. Registered student organizations all over campus and even the local YMCA will be sponsoring events.

One of the events taking place on campus is the Lunar New Year Celebration. From 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, the University YMCA will host a celebration to ring in the New Year. Sponsored by the Asian American Cultural Center. the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies and the University YMCA, the event features performances from Chinese Heritage School, Japan Intercultural Network (J-Net), Gah Rahk Mah Dahng (GRMD), Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) and many more. The event is free, and all are encouraged to stop by.

There are many upcoming celebrations, but campus has already begun the celebration this past week. On Monday, the Asian American Association celebrated the Lunar New Year in the Nugent Hall Main Lounge. “Such a small celebration is reminiscent to those back at home,” said Timothy Chen, junior in Engineering.

“New Year’s celebration is about bringing in the New Year and having relatives over,” he said.

Chen said it’s hard to celebrate on campus because of the distance from his friends and family.

Ka Ng, senior in LAS, also spoke about the holiday saying, “When I lived in Hong Kong, we had almost a month off. … It’s not really celebrated how it should be here.”

Both students mentioned that RSOs do a fantastic job at trying to make the campus feel more like home. At the end of the day, however, it’s just impossible to replicate an event as big and with as much significance as the Lunar New Year.

Isaac Kilis, a freshman in DGS, has lived in Hong Kong for almost his entire life.

“Chinese New Year is typically celebrated over three days, (and) the first day is where the red packets are given,” he said. “In addition, we talk and eat with the family we visit. The next two days are typically just the festival. We look at the full moon and go to the fest, which is almost like a carnival, and just celebrate with family.”

Kilis said he plans to check out some of the events on campus, such as the Allen Hall and LAR Chinese Lunar New Year Party on Friday, from 7 p.m. to midnight in the Allen Hall South Rec Room. He also plans to attend the Taiwanese American Students Club event, “Lunar New Year Celebration,” on Sunday, which starts at 7 p.m. in the YMCA Latzer Hall.

Drake can be reached at [email protected].