First photo: Kingston Poon, 3, and sister Vivian Poon, 1, compete in a Chinese attire contest for keiki as festival Chairwoman Sarah Shim describes their costumes for the spectators during the Maui Chinese New Year Festival 2019 on Saturday at Queen Ka’ahumanu Center in Kahului. Kingston placed second in the boys division. Shim said the event drew a good crowd despite a last-minute venue change to Queen Ka’ahumanu Center. “It’s going really well,” Shim said. “I want to give credit to Queen Ka’ahumanu Center. For me, it’s a day of celebration of our Chinese culture, traditions and food. We even have a lot of vendors who flew over from Oahu.”

Second photo: Jamie Wong of Phoenix Dance Chamber performs solo contemporary Chinese dance “Dancing in the Rain” on Saturday at Queen Ka’ahumanu Center. The dance group is based on Oahu. Chinese New Year actually began Feb. 5 and marked the beginning of the Year of the Pig.

Third photo: Maui Chinese Arts Academy sifu Steve Catugal (right) takes on his students in a mock battle during Saturday’s kung fu demonstration.

The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos