Local Karen community to celebrate new year
SAN DIEGO
The annual Karen New Year celebration in San Diego is a time for the Karen community to come together to pray for happiness and compassion in the coming year.
This year, like so many celebrations, the event will happen virtually in a pre-recorded stream available at 6 p.m. today on the Karen Organization of San Diego’s Facebook and YouTube accounts.
Nao Kabashima, executive director of the organization, said she hopes that the easy access of the event will help San Diegans who are not familiar with Karen culture learn about the rich history and traditions of some of their neighbors.
It is a time for Karen San Diegans to celebrate living in a place where they can practice this part of their cultural traditions safely and publicly, Kabashima said, and embrace the fullness of their identities. In Burma, now known officially as Myanmar, they were among the ethnic minorities persecuted by the government, and their new year celebration was an easy target for attacks.
“It’s a great opportunity for them to join this event from home safely, and they still can feel the passion,” Kabashima said. “I’m so proud this is actually happening.”
There are about 2,000 Karen refugees in San Diego, according to Kabashima, who is herself an immigrant from Japan. Karen refugees began resettling in San Diego in 2007, she said, and the Karen Organization of San Diego began hosting the new year celebration in 2009.
Karen New Year is observed on the first day of “Pya Tho,” the tenth month of the Burmese calendar.
In August, Karen community leaders and youth decided to work to host the event virtually because of the coronavirus. They’ve been planning and polishing the celebration since then.
This year’s celebration will last about 40 minutes and feature performances from within individual households to keep in line with COVID-19 health measures.
Since a communal meal is normally a focal point of the event, the Karen Organization of San Diego is partnering with another group to provide food baskets to all of the celebrating families.