At the City Heights Wat Sovannkiri Buddhist Temple on 52nd Street opulent detail and vibrantly colored flags decorate the façade during the Khmer New Year celebration. | Photo Credit: Kiran Mehta
By Beto Soto and Brent Jensen
Beto Soto and Brent Jensen are high school students and members of The AjA Project’s Youth Advisory Council.
Earlier this month the Cambodian community in City Heights came together to celebrate the Khmer New Year. Traditionally, the Khmer New Year is celebrated over a three-day-long festival, with special events hosted each day.
The festival was held at Colina Del Sol Park and Recreation Center in City Heights. The Cambodian community gathered to say goodbye to the year of the snake, to welcome the year of the horse and to wish each other health, wisdom and good luck for the incoming year. More than 300 people attended the event, which offered a wide variety of traditional Cambodian food and featured a costume runway show of traditional clothing worn during Cambodian weddings. Vendors sold gifts, toys, traditional garb and artwork.
Vendors sold brightly hued Cambodian sarongs at the Khmer New Year festival on April 12, 2014. | Photo Credit: Kiran Mehta
According to Paul Schinelpfenig, the onstage translator and one of the leading organizers of the festival, the event has lost sponsorship in the past few years. The size of the festival has changed as a result, but he said the community has not lost enthusiasm. This year the Victoria House Corporation, a local non-profit organization that supports women and children who have been affected by domestic violence, sponsored the Khmer Festival.
Fashion show participants display traditional Cambodian attire at the Khmer New Year Festival on April 12, 2014. The young man dressed in white glances at his fiancé, who is adorned in a gold sarong, traditionally made from silk. | Photo Credit: Kiran Mehta
The Wat Sovannkiri Buddhist Temple, a traditional place of Buddhist worship, located at 3864 52nd St. also held festivities for the New Year. In the small courtyard surrounding the temple, organizers prepared and served food for visitors. On the menu were homemade eggrolls, fried bananas, Thai tea, rice, beef and chicken skewers.
Locals prepare traditional Cambodian spring rolls and Thai tea in celebration of the New Year at Wat Sovannkiri Buddhist Temple on 52nd Street in City Heights. | Photo Credit: Kiran Mehta
While the aromas of traditional Cambodian cuisine contributed to the atmosphere, the Temple’s unique architecture created a rich environment for festival celebrations. Buddhist statues and figures welcomed visitors to the ornate temple, where monks in orange robes sat in meditative silence among the incense. Friendly residents welcomed visitors to their food stands, introducing event patrons to their slice of Cambodia within City Heights.
The Wat Sovannkiri Buddhist Temple was introduced to City Heights in 1982. Since, it has been an important cultural fixture, where Cambodian practices and lifestyles continue to thrive. The Wat encourages curious residents to explore and experience the Cambodian community in City Heights.