The sweet aroma of soy sauce and spices filled the air in the Brown-Lupton University Union Auditorium Monday as students gathered around lion dancers and a full buffet to celebrate the Asian New Year.

Each year the women of Kappa Lambda Delta Sorority, Inc. team up with members of the university’s Asian Student Association to put together an Asian New Year Festival that allows students to experience Asian culture.

A traditional Asian New Year ritual is lion dancing, Shaine Singson, a junior nursing major and festival coordinator, said.

“People put on lion costumes and dance to the beat of drums to ward off evil spirits,” she said.

Many students lined up for a chance to feed at least one of the three lions dancing around the room.

Singson said if someone feeds a lion a red envelope, it is a sign of good luck.

Students crowded around a photo booth to get their pictures taken while customary Asian games were played for the chance of winning handfuls of candy as prizes.

One of the members of Kappa Lambda Delta, sophomore psychology major Ivy Wong, said she is going to extend her celebration of the New Year in Las Vegas with her family. She said it is the second year her family will celebrate the holiday in Las Vegas.