Students are invited to dress up and participate in the Lunar New Year Banquet in Carnegie’s Root Room tomorrow from 6 – 8 p.m. to celebrate the new year.

The Chinese Student Association, Oberlin Korean Students Association and Vietnamese Student Association are coming together to host a celebration of the second new moon after the winter solstice. The festivities will include music, dances and, as emphasized by many of their advertisements, a variety of culinary options.

“There’s good food, cheap tickets, and you don’t have to eat in Stevie,” said College junior Karen Park, chair of OKSA. This is the second year that the three student groups have partnered for this event. Park’s organization will be offer dduk, which are Korean rice cakes, and assorted sweet treats, while VSA will provide gio cuon, which are summer rolls, with both shrimp and tofu options. CSA, supplying most of the food, is catering from Cleveland. The group is bringing in a variety of dishes including chicken and vegetables in oyster sauce, beef with ginger and scallion, and egg tofu. Bok choy, string beans, vegetable fried rice and white rice will also be available.

The organizers promise that the food is only half the attraction, as a variety of performances will be held as well. Students from Westlake Chinese School and Oberlin’s Lion Dance Troupe are among the performers. A video on the Lunar New Year is also being sponsored by OKSA, while VSA is bringing singer/songwriter Lily Bee from Irvine, CA. According to her YouTube page, her music is “a fusion of jazz, folk, indie, acoustic, and silly.” Bee will also be performing at the Cat in the Cream the following day, Feb. 26, at 9 p.m.

“We’re really excited to share our culture with the broader Oberlin community,” said College sophomore Nick Loh, co-Chair of CSA. “Given our relationship with China as Americans, it’s all the more important to have this bicultural exchange. It’s an approachable way to start.”

This event will also be extended to the larger Oberlin community, and several Oberlin City Council members are planning to attend. Although the college, the town and even the various student organizations may celebrate the Lunar New Year in different ways, this event will provide a space for them to come together. According to the different cultures’ zodiac calendars, the animal symbols of individual years do not always match up, but for 2012, they all share the Year of the Dragon.