LaBa Festival

 

Have you heard of LaBa Festival?  Perhaps not, as it isn't as well known Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) which follows closely.  LaBa Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday that is celebrated on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month of the year.  This holiday is a time for celebrating the year's harvest, honoring ancestors and worshipping gods.  One of the most important parts of the celebration is cooking LaBa porridge, which is a mixture of grains, beans and dried fruit.  This porridge is said to invoke peace and good fortune.

We celebrated Laba Festival this week.  Our little ones were very happy to learn more about this porridge and to make their own porridge handicrafts.  They started by selecting a color and pattern for the tablecloth:

Choosing a design for the bowl and decorating it well is also important!

Glue the tablecloth, bowl, spoon and porridge in place:

Add some grains, beans and dried fruit:

A few more finishing touches:

And what do we have?  A Laba Festival masterpiece!

By now, everyone has worked up an appetite.  So of course, it was time to sample some real LaBa porridge!

It was delicious!

Happy LaBa Festival!