Photos: Hmong New Year celebration in St. Paul draws thousands

Updated Nov. 27, 5:39 a.m. | Posted Nov. 26, 8:52 a.m.

Hmong Minnesotans are celebrating the past and future this weekend with the 2023 Hmong New Year celebration.

Tens of thousands of people are gathering at the St. Paul RiverCentre for the two-day festivities, which mark one of the largest Hmong events in the country.

Traditionally meant to celebrate the end of harvest in southeast Asia, Hmong New Year is now a way to celebrate Hmong heritage and uplift new generations.

”We don’t really wear our Hmong clothes anywhere else but the Hmong New Year’s… so it's a time to meet people and update family photos and dress in your traditional, cultural clothes,” said Kou Moua, co-owner of Hmong House Photo Booth. There, people posed for photos in front of rice field or bamboo home backdrop, meant to invoke imagery of the home country Laos.

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People of all ages came dressed in traditional clothing for the festivities, which included food, various competitions and a range of Hmong vendors.

During opening remarks on Saturday, Gov. Tim Walz issued a proclamation for Hmong New Year for the second year in a row. He outlined legislative wins for Hmong community like the transfer of land ownership to Hmong farmers and committed to investing resources to a special guerrilla unit museum to tell the stories of Hmong soldiers who aided the U.S. during the Vietnam War.

State Rep. Ethan Cha, DFL-Woodbury, said political influence of the Hmong community is strong here.

“The future of all Hmong in America is going to be the state of Minnesota. And I say that because we have nine Hmong legislators in the state of Minnesota,” Cha said. “That is profound evidence of the opportunity and the equity that is here in Minnesota for Southeast Asians like the Hmong.”

The Hmong New Year celebration continues through Sunday at RiverCentre in St. Paul.