The year 2025 marked the 50th anniversary of the first arrivals of Hmong refugees in the United States.

While families and clans have been discussing their storied history all year, the celebration now culminates in the biggest New Year gathering of Southeast Asians in North America, said former Fresno City Councilmember Blong Xiong.

“It’s really important that we obviously celebrate the success that we’ve had here for 50 years,” Xiong said. “But the other thing is to remember all the hard work, the sacrifices. Our elders have really paved the way.”

Minnesota State Sen. Susan Pha Visits Fresno for Festivities

New Year festivities at the Fresno Fairgrounds began Friday and continue through Monday. There, visitors of all ethnicities can celebrate Southeast Asian cultures, taste a variety of foods, and observe — or even take part — in traditional ceremonies.

The event runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

Organizers kicked off the event with a parade and a series of speeches from notable people in the community, including Fresno City Councilmember Brandon Vang, Fresno Unified Superintendent Misty Her, Clovis Mayor Vong Mouanoutoua, Assemblymembers Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno and Esmeralda Soria, D-Merced, and Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.

Minnesota State Sen. Susan Pha traveled out to Fresno for the event.

Xiong say beyond the celebrations, the event unites the community that has since established itself throughout the country.

“It’s also for folks in different parts of the country to remember and to really talk,” Xiong said. “But I think more importantly, when you have opportunities to go to some of these exhibits that are in the facilities here, to just kind of walk through some of the history. I hope that creates a dialogue and we connect them with their roots and with our culture.”

Next Generation Needs to Keep the ‘Grit’ That Brought Success: Mouanoutoua

Fleeing persecution during the Vietnam War — especially after many Hmong sided with the U.S. during the conflict — it was in 1975 that the first refugees arrived.

Many of those refugees found a familiarity in the agriculture of the Central Valley, said Clovis Mayor Vong Mouanoutoua.

The first arrivals did not have the luxuries they suddenly found around them, he said. And not long after, many left agriculture to become doctors, politicians, engineers, he said.

Mouanoutoua said he wants the next generations to keep the “grit” that pushed people to success.

“What happens sometimes, you go ‘that’s enough,’ because you can live comfortably that way,” Mouanoutoua said. “But I hope that we teach our kids to still continue to excel in the professions so that way it’s sort of a generational thing instead of just one generation taking advantage.”

It said it was in America that they achieved those successes.

“Though there are struggles, there are always struggles. But we excelled in 50 years past those struggles,” Mouanoutoua said. “Our hope is that we will just be one of the threads that weaves into this fabric of America that leaves a strand that is solid, a strand that is something America also values.”

Related Story: After 50 Years of Struggle, Valley’s Hmong Community Charts a New Path