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The event, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, usually draws more than 5,000 people, said Yee Vue, chairman of the planning committee.
About two-thirds, he said, are out-of-towners reuniting with friends and family in the area, he said.
“My favorite part is getting friends and family together to see each other,” Vue said.
Though the traditional new year kicks off toward the end of December on the Hmong calendar, the La Crosse Area Hmong New Year is held the second weekend of October so it can be celebrated outdoors.
The two-week festival also is reduced to two days packed with athletic competition, cultural performances and traditional food and dancing.
The celebration has been held in La Crosse since 1982 and is in its 20th year at Veterans Memorial Park off Hwy. 16 in West Salem.
Admission is $15 per car.
During the day, guests can watch various sporting events, including soccer, volleyball, kick ball and Hmong traditional tossing ball.
Elsewhere, booths will display and sell food, traditional and modern clothing, instruments, toys, movies and other novelty items.
Vue said people will be able to choose from rice, rice noodles, curry, laj, papaya salad, eggrolls, chicken, fish and sausage.
Music will extend the party Saturday from day into night as the venue shifts to the La Crosse Center from 6 p.m. to midnight for performances from the YWJ Pheej Band and Mab Sua Lis. Admission is $12 per person. Children younger than 13 get in free.
