LOOK: Denver unleashes the Year of the Dragon

Hundreds of people ignored snow and freezing temperatures to celebrate Lunar New Year — the first time the holiday was officially recognized in Colorado — at Federal Boulevard’s Far East Center.

“This is nothing, right? We can do this,” said City Council member Jamie Torres, who presides over this edge of the city. “This is exactly the kind of thing we deliver in Denver. It is these rich, cultural, dynamic, community-investing events and festivals.”

The Far East Center, too, celebrated a special occasion this week, as the state’s historic commission added it to its list of historic places. Annie Levinsky recognized the Luong family, who opened the shopping center in the 1980s, for their decades on the block. Fawn Luong, the family’s matriarch, beamed at the crowd as she shared her journey from Vietnam to Denver. Her family was one of the first to arrive here as refugees fled America’s war in their country.

“It’s cold, but my heart is warm,” she said during the recognition.

Lunar New Year is celebrated across the globe, primarily in East Asian countries. It’s still not a national holiday in the U.S., but there’s some appetite to change that.