The Northwest Asian Weekly’s annual children costume contest was a huge success.
According to the Seattle Police Department, there were approximately 15,000 people in attendance for the Lunar New Year festivities. There were many diverse races of children in the contest, and for the first time, there were children of Indian descent participating. The variety of costume designs ranged from Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Mongolian, Manchu, and Indian. There was a record number of participants under the age of five.
Many of the parade-goers were well prepared in showing off their costumes. One contestant, in a sheep costume, crawled on the floor to emphasize she was a sheep.
Seahawks mascot Boom, who helped escort the opening of the parade and ceremony, was very popular. Many of the contestants wanted to hang on to Boom and kept a firm grip on the mascot rather than focusing on their costumes. (end)
Photos by George Liu/NWAW