Cambodian Cultural Alliance of Washington

The Cambodian Cultural Alliance of Washington (CCAW) is a volunteer nonprofit that has held the White Center Cambodian New Year Street Festival since 2002. It was founded in White Center, Washington, to show Cambodian culture and arts through a New Year celebration with local performance groups and musicians. It supports community performance groups and gives young people chances to learn traditional Cambodian arts.

Organization details
Type	Arts and culture
Focus areas	cultural-programming
City	Seattle
State / province	Washington
Country	United States
Website	Website
Operating status	unverified

History

Pharin Kong founded the alliance. Its members are community volunteers, and it has relied on volunteers to organize its New Year festival. White Center's Cambodian community was formed by families who came to the United States in the refugee wave of the 1980s, fleeing the Cambodian genocide.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic the festival was a daylong outdoor event at White Center Plaza that drew thousands of people. Buddhist monks from nearby temples received food offerings in their alms bowls, traditional dancers performed on stage, and community groups, financial advisers and White Center small businesses ran booths. There was also a banana-eating contest each year. Sophal Hamaker, a longtime volunteer, said that people who had moved away from White Center still came back for the festival.

The pandemic moved the festival online. The 19th festival, the alliance's first held online, took place on April 24, 2021, with a raffle, traditional dancing and a food demonstration streamed on Facebook. The 20th followed by livestream on May 28, 2022, with recorded performances by the Khmer Language Arts & Cultural Academy, the UW Khmer Student Association, the Khemarak Samaki Classical Group and Cambodian Classical and Folk Dance Northwest. Older community members gave food demonstrations, and the South Park Senior Center Cambodian Group and Oliver's Twist, a Cambodian restaurant in North Seattle, also took part. Sophia Som, the alliance's outreach coordinator that year, said the New Year was a celebration for people across the community, whatever their religion.

The festival returned to White Center in person. The 21st, on April 27, 2024, had monk blessings, traditional dance, Cambodian food and a contest for bok lahong, green papaya salad. The 23rd, on April 25, 2026, drew hundreds of people to celebrate Cambodian New Year (Choul Chnam Thmey) with New Year dishes, a blessing by local Cambodian Buddhist monks, traditional dance and splashes of water and baby powder.

Festival and programs

The street festival is the alliance's main event. Its program has included live music, traditional and classical performances, a monks' blessing and food offering, food and games, and it is run with volunteers and sponsors. The alliance also holds a movie night. It supports Cambodian groups across Washington that keep Khmer traditions, culture and arts alive through classes, music lessons, dance and performance lessons, and storytelling.

Community

Dancers come to the festival from across the state. Rady Mey Oum, teacher of Cambodian Classical and Folk Dance of the Northwest, said in 2026 that her dancers travel from Marysville, Lynnwood and Everett and from as far south as Olympia, Lacey, Tacoma and Federal Way. Oum said the group was formed in 1982 by the first refugee families to reach Washington State, as the first Khmer dance group in the Pacific Northwest. "We couldn't bring anything. We lost everything. But what our parents brought with them was this rich culture and heritage," she said.

See also

• Khmer Language Arts and Culture Academy
• All organizations

References