Mira Mesa Community Park was beaming with celebration and pride as the Vietnamese community welcomed the new year Friday.
“The Vietnamese culture is beautiful, it's vast, there's so much history and we get to share a little of that with the community,” said Alan Tran, treasurer for the San Diego TET Festival.
For the Vietnamese, it’s the year of the cat, while for the Chinese, who celebrated the lunar new year last week, it’s the year of the rabbit. The animals represent hope and peace.
This is as the hearts of many continue to mourn for those injured and killed in last week’s mass shootings.
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“It was kind of shocking to hear about it. It's kind of crazy, you don't think such things can happen,’ said one of the festival attendees.
Until they do, leaving the community with no option but to usher in strength, prosperity, and fortune into the new year.
“The community is strong and its people [are too,]” said Alissa Whitfield, festival attendee. ‘And being here and supporting each other means more. It actually shows there’s strength in the community to stand together.”
“We stand together, we stand strong,” said another attendee. “One setback isn't going to stop us from being ourselves, we’re not going to let one attack divide us and completely shut ourselves away.”
This year's festival features live music, performances, carnival rides, and lots of food. But most importantly it was about community.
“[About] family, for sure, togetherness, [and] just celebrating a new year,’ said Jesse Delzio, festival attendee.
According to event organizers, there was additional security on the grounds and police assured them they would have extra patrols monitoring the area all weekend. The event goes through Sunday.
