Hmong American News Radio

The state fire marshal's office is investigating why its agency did not receive a permit for the Hmong New Year Festival at Cal Expo over the Thanksgiving weekend, authorities said.

A boy suffered substantial burns from a space heater at the event, which ran from Thursday through Sunday, authorities said.

State code requires any event attended by 50 or more that is held inside a building, room or tent to apply for a permit from the local fire department. If the event is on state property – like Cal Expo – a permit must be requested from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Office of the State Fire Marshal.

Food, music, and ball-tossing highlight event

 In Laos, the game is a way for young couples to express their affection for one another and even begin a courtship. 

 Boys and girls form two separate lines in pairs that are directly facing one another. The pairs toss a cloth ball back and forth, until one member drops the ball. Traditionally, if a player drops or misses the ball, an ornament or item is given to the opposite player in the pair. Ornaments are recovered by singing love songs, called hais kwv txhiaj, to the opposite player.

In the North High field house on Friday, several groups of mostly young people – often times mixed pairs of boys and girls — formed parallel lines and tossed a cloth-covered ball back and forth.

"If you drop the ball you have to buy a flower for the other person," said Kong Phe Vang, 17, a senior at South High School, who stood clutching a small bouquet of flowers, thanks to the fact that his partner Pa Ying Xiong, 14, a South High freshman, seemed to have trouble catching the ball.