Sabaydii,

On behalf of the International Lao New Year Festival (ILNYF), we invite you to join in our community’s largest annual celebration to be held at the San Francisco Civic Center Plaza on Saturday, April 10, 2010 in San Francisco, California, USA.

The ILNYF will provide an opportunity for the Lao American community to promote a deeper understanding of our traditions and people, present a uniquely Lao American and Asian identity, and to show our rich cultural practices. It is the coming together of a growing community to celebrate an ancestral heritage essential to the Lao American, Asian American and the greater American cultural ties, but also allow us to open our world to a broader general audience. 

As a result of the Indochina Conflict (Vietnam War), Lao refugees have called the United States home for the last three decades. Many Lao Americans fought along side Americans during the CIA Secret War in Laos. The first wave of Lao refugees came to the U.S. in late 1970s. Many of them came through the Hamilton Air Force Base in Novato, California before transitioning to other parts of the country. Close to one million people of Lao descent now live in the US, and about 35,000 of them reside in the San Francisco Bay Area. After 30 years in the U.S., still little is known of our experiences, cultures, and way of life by other Americans.

The three main hosts of the ILNYF 2010 (Center for Lao Studies, Lao Heritage Foundation, and the Laotian American National Alliance) are prominent and leading national non-profit organizations with a solid reputation and a long list of successful national and international programs and events. We are very excited to be able to foster pride in our youth and elders, and to pave ways for a cultural celebration unique to the Lao American community.

The Thai, Cambodian, Burmese, and Lue (Dai) of Sipsong Panna (Xishuangbanna in southern Yunnan Province of China) also share the same New Year and will join the festival as we celebrate our collective holiday. We are expecting 40,000+ people to attend our outdoor all-day festival at the San Francisco City Hall’s Civic Center.

Sincerely,