Seattle Hmong New Year 2026 at Seattle Center Festál

Seattle Hmong New Year takes Saturday, November 14, 2026 in the Seattle Center Armory Food & Event Hall. The official calendar opens the day at 10:00 a.m. Admission is free.

This is the last Festál date of 2026. The series runs 25 free festivals from February through November. Diwali: Lights of India is in the same hall the Saturday before. If you are stacking fall culture days downtown, those two weekends are the pair.

The partner is the Hmong Association of Washington, the local nonprofit that has long used the Armory for this holiday. HAW’s own page still carries 2025 times. Use the Seattle Center listing for 2026. The city clock only locks the 10:00 a.m. start. There is no official end time yet.

Hmong New Year marks the end of the harvest and a thanks to ancestors. In the highlands the observance can run about ten days. In the U.S. it compresses to a public Saturday. People wear embroidered clothing. There is dance, food, and music. The Festál page, using HAW’s language, also flags pov pob: two people tossing a ball as a form of courtship. That is the detail first-timers come to see. Do not treat it as a stage show. It is a social game that needs floor space.

HAW’s Festál notes are worth a beat before you walk in. Hmong communities keep their own language and customs without a nation-state of their own. There are 18 clan surnames, and White and Green dialects. The clothing tables matter as much as the music because of that embroidery and silverwork.

The Armory format is the same as Tibet Fest and Live Aloha: indoor hall, community tables, a performance block, food for purchase. It is easier than hunting a suburban gym. It is also more public, which means you will share the room with school groups and people who have never heard of pov pob. That is the point of putting it at Seattle Center.

In 2025, HAW split the day into a 10:00 a.m. door, a daytime program, and a night concert. 2026 has not posted that split. Wait for HAW or Festál before you count on a late show.

The hall is at 305 Harrison Street. The Seattle Center Monorail from Westlake is the cleanest downtown trip. RapidRide D and Metro buses serve 5th and Denny. Campus parking fills on Kraken and concert nights. Seattle Center’s number is (206) 684-7200. HAW’s general contact is hmong.of.washington@gmail.com if you are asking about vendors or volunteering, not day-of hours.

Our take: this is the Hmong day on the civic calendar, not a temple visit. Come for the clothing and pov pob. Stay for one dance set. If you already did Diwali the week before, you know the Armory. Give this one its own Saturday.

When: November 14, 2026, starts 10:00 a.m. (end time not posted)
Where: Seattle Center Armory Food & Event Hall, 305 Harrison St, Seattle, WA 98109