From OC Register
The Tet Parade in Westminster will have a reversed route for 2015 and its main stage has been moved to Hanoi Plaza in the heart of Little Saigon.
A young dancer performs with the Trung Tinh Duong Lion Dance team during the 2011 Tet Parade in Westminster. (FILE PHOTO: KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER)
The parade, celebrating the Vietnamese Lunar new year and organized for the third straight year by the Vietnamese American Federation of Southern California, is scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 21 and is expected to draw about 10,000 participants and spectators. The route will begin at the corner of Bushard Street and Bolsa Avenue, then travel west on Bolsa and end just past Magnolia Street.
Organizers selected Hanoi Plaza, at 9082 Bolsa Ave., as the event’s new stage because of the 6-foot-tall, 1,400-pound statue of 13th-century military commander Tran Hung Dao dedicated in September. The statue of Dao, who is credited with defeating Kublai Khan’s superior Mongolian forces, hearkens to a united Vietnam – something the expat community in America is still fighting for.
It took years for the statue to become a reality.
“They are really excited about moving the stage to Hanoi Plaza,” Westminster Recreation Coordinator Pam Gremlilng said. “It’s really important. Our meetings with the organizers have been really energetic.”
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