Maui County Chinese New Year Celebration, Feb. 12

Chinese New Year celebration. File photo courtesy County of Maui.

Master Ben Seng Au and his Shaolin Arts Academy will again bring their cultural extravaganza to the County Building in celebration of Chinese New Year.

The public is invited to attend this free event, with festivities beginning at 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 12, 2016, on the front lawn of the County Building.

Firecrackers will open the event, followed by a martial arts exhibition and lion dancers. The lion dance performance will feature elaborate traditional costumes, drums, cymbals and other Chinese percussion instruments.

Red “li-shi” envelopes will be available at the event to “feed” the lions in the hopes of obtaining good luck during the new year.

This coming Chinese year is the year of the Yang Fire Monkey, 4714 on the Chinese Lunar calendar. Other Monkey years are 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992 and 2004.