New Year is a great time to visit the Hmong!  Depending on the harvest, the time of the festival can range from November to January. 

New Year, for Hmong people, is when love is in the air. Young men and women are able to meet each other and chat through a courting game involving tossing a ball back and forth. This is also the time when many young couples become engaged or get married.

New Year is a time to lighten the work load, finish up making the fine clothes which may have taken all year to sew, and prepare a special New Year’s pig to eat.  Youth also play games such as spinning tops and badminton. Music on the qeej, a Hmong pipe instrument, can be heard everywhere.