2019 Austin Chinese Culture Festival – Evening Show Review

By Sherry

Feb 16th, 2019 is a day to remember for many here in town for one reason: the Austin Chinese Culture Festival made its debut after almost a year-long preparation. It was the biggest Lunar New Year celebration event in Austin among all the others. The guests enjoyed Chinese cuisine, cultural exhibitions, performances and many fun games. The evening show was the highlight of Festival.

The Chinese Orchestra from San Antonio kicked off the evening with traditional music pieces. Audiences with different backgrounds were not only intrigued by the folk instruments such as Erhu, Pipa, Xiao and others, but also the unique characteristics of traditional music.

The Ribbon Dance by the students from Love of China Dancing Studio charmed the audiences of all ages. The youngsters were especially captivated by the synchronized patterns and designs formed by the long colorful ribbons in the air. If the Classical Dance, Iron Fan Dance, and Waltz brought the delightful climate to the auditorium, then the Taiwan Aboriginal Dance, Tai Chi, Waist Drum Dance, Cheongsam Fashion Show and the well-known song, Grandma’s Ponghu Bay took the audience back to the far away homeland and immersed everyone into the richness of the Chinese culture. Trumpet solo, You and Me, by Hai Zhu reinstated the pride from the opening ceremony of 2008 Paralymics Games. Everyone in the auditorium showed their appreciation s of arts and emotion s towards hometown with many rounds of warm applause.

As a fun episode during the show, the non-Chinese speaking audiences were encouraged to learn to say a sentence in Chinese and they would then be awarded with a red envelope. The spirit in the auditorium immediately became lively and exhilarated upon the announcement. The little kids ran up to the stage excitedly. They received the red envelope that represents warm wishes and affections.

Many other performances pushed the evening to one high note after another. We enjoyed Ambush from All Sides by Carrie Wang, Ave Maria by Zheng Yuan, Pleasant Mood by Yuan Chen and many more…

At the end of the show, all the performers and volunteers took the stage when the ACAN theme song played in the background. Everyone was touched at this moment. We were grateful for this Festival and the diversity it brought to the Greater Austin community.