HILO, Hawaii – Downtown Hilo may not be having an official Chinese New Year celebration this year, but there will still be some events in celebration of the Year of The Ram.

Alice Moon coordinated the Chinese New Year festival downtown for years. Now, she is the Community Relations Coordinator for The Makery, a shop that provides tools and training for Hawaii’s people to create products using Hawaiian materials and resources. Moon sent this media release on Wednesday, detailing the line-up of activities planned at The Makery.

For some of the world, including in Hawaii, tomorrow, February 19th marks the beginning of festivities occurring around the globe for the Lunar or Chinese New Year. Millions of people are celebrating right now and millions more will gather together throughout the weeks ahead. Its time to be with family, honor our ancestors, remember those who have come before us in our hearts as we drum and dance and fire off the firecrackers to chase evil spirits away. Its time to remember you are a part of the big ohana and are welcome to join in our revelry with Aloha, peace, joy and harmony.

Please come be part of The Makery Hilo Ohana for Chinese New Year events this week:

We hope the Makery and YOU will benefit from a special Feng Shui presentation with Clear Englebert. Tomorrow, Feb. 19 come at 4:30 p.m. for informal talk story and browse the great selection of books about Feng Shui and Chinese Astrology then stay for the 5 p.m. hour lecture and Q&A. Great timing for getting clear on what’s ahead and how to deal with it after the tromping from the Year of the Horse.

On Saturday Feb. 21, we start traditional Chinese New Year activities off with a bang at 9:30 a.m. as the Big Island Shaolin Arts Lion Dancers make their way up to the Makery from their parade start at the Kress Building on Kamehameha Ave.

Drums and dancing through the Makery the lions will take care to clean out corners and accept our donations and wishes for a good new year. It’ll be noisy and fun, so if you or your keiki get a little scared, remember, whatever you are doing on the first day of the new year you’ll be doing the rest of the year so no crying!

Then, from 12 – 2 p.m. Lee Michael Walczuk and his Kozmo Mimzi Animation Theatre give us a special treat for Ohana Art Day with dragons, dragons and more dragons! Be the dragon, make a dragon, learn about dragons and much more Chinese culture and traditions. A small $2 activity fee for making includes a lucky charm, otherwise all other dragon activities are free.

I-Ching readings, calligraphy demos, special sales, Chinese cultural information and treats will also be abundant throughout the day at various times up until 4 p.m. It will be a full fun day at The Makery, please come and invite others to join the family.

Its also a good time to visit our newly set up gallery and gift shop for the final days of the Art Bazaar: mirrors, art, jewelry, and discontinued items we’ve cleared out to make room for NEW products are selling fast at bargain prices. Sale ends February 25 for March’s guest artist Linda Kane showing in the gallery. A reception for the show takes place on downtown Hilo’s First Friday Art Walk, March 6, and you’re welcome to join us.

Kung Hee Fat Choy!Alice Moon on behalf of The Makery, Feb. 18, 2015

The Makery is located at 126 Keawe Street in downtown Hilo. Moon says The Makery “empowers creativity and provides vocational training to the community with access to hand tools, conventional machines, computer aided design (CAD) programs, and computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines, supported by expert instructors and mentors. The goal is to have more products made in Hawaii by people who live in Hawaii, using Hawaiian materials and resources. For more information, email themakeryhilo@gmail.com or call (808) 933-8571.”