Students and guests will convene in Jones Theatre this weekend in celebration of Chinese New Year.

Each year the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) holds a Chinese Spring Festival Gala. The gala is an opportunity for students to find community while away from their families and surrounded by a culture that doesn’t celebrate Chinese New Year. The CSSA will hold the 2015 Chinese Spring Festival in the Daggy Hall Jones Theatre Saturday from 7:30-10 p.m.

Jiani Ling, a sophomore majoring in economic sciences, will be emcee for the event. The festival is the biggest event of the year in China, she said.

“The Chinese Spring Festival is like Christmas in Western culture,” Ling said.

Zijue Wang, a junior studying mechanical engineering and president of CSSA, said the event is a collaboration between many people and organizations. Groups involved in the event include the education group from the Chinese Embassy, the Confucius Institute, and members of the local Pullman Chinese community, he said. The event will include two speakers traveling from San Francisco and a piano soloist from Spokane, he said. There will also be a singer and pop-dancing performances by local kids and CSSA members, he said. The dancing performance has a surprise, he said.

“We’re keeping it a secret before the show,” Wang said.

The festival is usually really traditional, but this year the festivities include a cross talk, said Ling. A cross talk is a comedic performance with two people talk back and forth bouncing off each other’s reactions, Ling said.

“We do the event every year, but we try something different,” Wang said.

The festival is a way for Chinese students and community members to come together and celebrate the New Year the best they can without their families, Ling said. We don’t want anyone to feel homeless, she said.

“Since we’re not in China and we can’t be with our families,” she said.

Chenhao Lu, a sophomore studying mechanical engineering, said if he was home he would spend the holiday visiting with family and friends. Typically older relatives give their younger family members money in little red envelopes for the holiday, he said. The tradition of giving “pocket money” evolved from the childhood story that keeping money in an envelope under your pillow would keep monsters away, he said.

“All students are welcome,” Wang said.