The 13th Chin New Year Festival, also known as Fang-er Puai, organized by Chin Community of USA (CCUSA), will be celebrated once again with various cultural dances, fashion shows and many cultural songs. This event will be held from Aug. 29-31 at Frederick, Md.

President Mr. Kap Thio has been a part of CCUSA since 2012 and currently lives in Maryland. He was elected as president back into 2012 at the CCUSA meeting in Battle Creek, Mich. He feels very blessed to be part of it, according to Thio.

To celebrate this celebration, the organization needs a lot of sponsors Thio says. CCUSA didn’t have any sponsors, but luckily, a lot of residents from Maryland helped out financially and did what they can to make the festival entertaining for the guests that are coming, according to Thio.

From Thio, this celebration has a very important purpose. The main reason for this celebration is letting the youth who were born and raised here in the U.S. see Chin traditional dances, costumes and how Chin culture differs from others. This Chin Festival also gives a lot of people a chance to meet their family from other states or even from different country, he says.

“This festival lets our culture grow by teaching our young children and their children to be about what we do in our homeland,” Thio said.

Sports are a factor in his life, according to senior Van Lian, who wishes to come home with a medal. To participate on the Indiana soccer team for the Chin Festival, the leaders of the soccer department held tryouts for anyone who wanted to participate.  After three tryouts they chose the players they want to work with.

Lian says he wasn’t able to be involved in the last two tournaments due to minor injuries and fitness issues. He trained himself and even joined the SHS soccer team to become better. They trained as best as they could and are looking forward to enjoy the game, he says.

“Representing Indiana is an honor of mine. I love sports, so playing against other players from different states would be a benefit for me,” Lian said.

The pageant that will represent Indiana was picked very carefully, according to Indiana Chin Community President (ICC), Mr. Andy Kap. At the very beginning, they had to go through every Falam (Chin) church to look for a young, beautiful and yet brave-looking lady, Kap says. After they found the lady, Ni Nuam, who will represent Indiana, they go to the woman’s home to ask for her parents’ permission. With permission, they have a photo shoot to use for advertising and start practicing for the fashion show.

According to Nuam, this will be her first time walking the runway. She says she’s very nervous since it’s her first time being in front of thousands of people. She joined the pageant as an Indiana Miss because she wants to show pride in her state, culture and tribe. Nuam says she works very hard at home by doing things, such as practicing how to talk in front of people, her walk, her smile and how she will act in front of people.

“I am trying my best to make my state proud,” Nuam said.  “It’s my first fashion show, so I’m very nervous, but I will do my best for this state and try my best to win.”