LYNNWOOD – Catherline Lo Wong, 46, has something special to share Saturday.
She is bringing spools of silken cord, pattern books and her heritage.
What she teaches is Chinese knotting, an art she learned in Taiwan. People make animals, flowers and complicated designs out of Chinese knots to bring good fortune, she said.
| Head to the fair
The fifth annual Multicultural Fair will be noon-5 p.m. Saturday at the Lynnwood Convention Center. Admission is free, but vendors will sell food. |
“The knots come from a long time ago,” said Wong, who grew up in Taiwan, but moved to Mountlake Terrace four years ago after winning an immigration lottery.
Wong is one of many people who will share their cultural arts at the fifth annual Multicultural Fair on Saturday. The showcase of ethnic art, food, music and dance will fill the Lynnwood Convention Center for the first time.
“I hope more people can come and enjoy the fair,” Wong said. “Maybe they can learn something they’ve never known before.”
Unlike other fairs, people will not be selling things.
“Last year, some people were thrown off by that,” organizer Pam Graham said. “It is a place where people come to seek out and engage in hands-on projects and dialogue. The atmosphere is entirely different than a commercial-type fair.”
The hands-on experience is what makes the fair unique, Graham said. At least 40 booths will offer cultural arts and crafts for people to try themselves, such as soapstone carving, or displays to see. Cambodia, China, Germany, Italy, Korea, Mexico, the Philippines, Russia, Scotland, Ukraine and Vietnam are some of the countries represented.
Last year, the fair attracted about 3,500 people. This year’s fair will be bigger because the entire center is reserved.
In the main hall upstairs, dancers and musicians will take turns performing. On the lower floor, Edmonds Community College students and faculty will cook and serve ethnic food.
The fair got its start about five years ago as a party among friends, Graham said. Several families with biracial children met in a gym to learn about and celebrate their heritages.
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