Mayor Mufi Hannemann today joined leaders of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Chinatown Merchants Association, United Chinese Coalition, United Chinese Society and The ARTS at Marks Garage to announce plans for the City and County of Honolulu’s Month In Chinatown celebration of Chinese New Year.

“I’m pleased to announce that the City and these organizations have an exciting month-long series of events planned to welcome in the Year of the Boar,” Hannemann said. “A full slate of free public events is scheduled from the first weekend in February through the final weekend, when we’ll take the highly successful Sunset and Rediscover format to feature a Movie in the Park at Aala Park.”

The month-long celebration highlights Chinatown, an area the mayor is especially interested in revitalizing as the focal point for culture and arts in Honolulu.

“Some of these events were suggested in the highly successful Chinatown Summit we held in June,” said Hannemann. “One of the key concepts I promoted at the summit was the need for public-private partnerships to move forward in revitalizing Chinatown. These groups and many, many businesses and individuals have more than met the challenge.”

This year’s Month in Chinatown celebration follows on the first-ever effort to mount a coordinated marketing campaign and pool resources for last year’s Chinese New Year celebration.

“After testing this model last year, the City – through our Office of Economic Development – and its partners, led by chairpersons Lee Tokuhara and Evan Leong, have brought in more partners and attracted solid sponsorship to produce a larger series of events that promises to be not only bigger, but better.”

Free 32-page, full-color guidebooks for the City’s Month in Chinatown will be widely available, as will Year of the Boar ribbons and pins. The booklet was produced by The ARTS at Marks Garage and printed by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin/Midweek.

The Year of the Boar officially begins on February 18. But traditional observances will be taking place throughout February, including lion dances, fireworks, displays and exhibits, Chinese singing and dancing, martial arts demonstrations, feng shui demonstrations and fortune-telling, in addition to the wide variety of food that mirrors the rich diversity of the Chinatown community.

For more information on events, call (808) 948-2007 or visit www.chinatownhi.com

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Contact:

            Bill Brennan, 527-6928

            Mark Matsunaga, 527-5767