The 135th Bok Kai Festival, Celebrating the Year of the Ram

The 135th Bok Kai Festival, celebrating the Year of the Ram, will take place on March 21 and 22, 2015. The heart of the festival is the now-restored Bok Kai Temple, built in Marysville, California's historic Chinatown in 1888.

The popular parade, some say the oldest continuous one in California, will be held on March 21 and features a variety of floats, cultural performances, and, of course, the famous Bok Kai parade dragon. The Bok Kai festival is closely associated with dragons, who like Bok Kai (Bok Eye) have power over rivers, waters and floods.

year's hostess is Carissa Hom, and The Grand Marshal is David Chan. The last entry in the parade is the 175 foot dragon named Fook Lung or "Lucky Dragon". The volunteers carrying the dragon are from BEALE AFB.

The Marysville Chinese Community hosts and sponsors Bomb Day on Sunday, March 22 at 4 pm, the intersection of 1st and 'C' Streets, the heart of Marysville's China Town. Handmade bombs will be lit and young men will scramble to catch the lucky rings. The catching of the rings is open for viewing only; ring catchers are pre-selected through special invitation of the Chinese Community. This unique event is the only one of its kind anywhere in the Americas and has happened annually since at least 1880.

Bok Kai Hostess Carissa Hom graduated from C.K. McClatchy in Sacramento, Ca. and went on to get her B.A. in cinema at San Francisco State University. Carissa speaks Cantonese/Tai Shan/Elementary Mandarin. She is also an office assistant at the Asian Community Center in Sacramento where she uses her skills as a videographer, photographer and manager of social media.
In addition to her work with the Department of Justice she is a senior instructor and trainer in Lion Dance and has managed volunteers for the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival and the Cherry Blossom Festival.