The new year is a month old for most Americans, but it's just beginning for Chinese and Vietnamese who celebrate today as the first day of 4704, the Year of the Dog.

Both cultures' New Years will be celebrated with extravagant area events for the first time this year. Today is the third and final day of the Tet '06 Festival at Qualcomm Stadium to celebrate the Vietnamese New Year; New Tang Dynasty Television will present a Chinese New Year Global Gala 8 p.m. Feb. 9 at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido; and Black Mountain Middle School in Rancho Penasquitos hosts a free Food and Cultural Faire from 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Feb. 11.

China and Vietnam follow the same lunar calendar, which marks the first day of the new year with the first new moon. Because the lunar cycle is about 29 1/2 days, an extra month is added periodically to catch up with the solar calendar. The extra months cause the new year to fall on a different date on the solar calendar each year.

In China, New Year celebrations can lasts two weeks, ending with the first full moon. Carol Feng, principal of Hua Xia Chinese School in Carlsbad, said she remembers New Year celebrations as a family affair in her hometown of Shanghai.

"All the family members have to be there," she said. "Just like a Thanksgiving dinner."

Besides recognizing family unity, the New Year reunions are a link with the Chinese tradition of honoring the ancestors who laid the foundation for the living relatives.

Outside the house, Chinese neighbors gather for costumed dragon and lion dances and to light firecrackers just before midnight.

"The harvest is important, and the dragon is the one in control of the water and the rain," Feng said. "And it gets rid of evil."

The Hua Xia Chinese School operates on weekends at Hope Elementary School in Carlsbad, Miramar College in Mira Mesa and in Riverside County.

A Chinese New Year celebration will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at the school's Miramar campus, 10440 Black Mountain Road, San Diego. A lion and dragon dance is scheduled for 11:30 a.m., followed by stage performances at noon. The event also will have food booths and games until 3 p.m.

The San Diego Chinese Center in downtown San Diego will celebrate the new year with a free festival at Third Avenue and J Street. The festival will include Asian cuisine, martial art and cooking demonstrations, a children's area, cultural exhibits and lion and dragon dances. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 11 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 12.

At the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, more than 1,000 performers will participate in the Chinese New Year Global Gala on Feb. 9. The touring show is being performed in 17 cities, including Paris and New York. Tickets are $35 to $75.

Performers are from the National Taiwan University of Arts, the American Ballet Theatre and the Tianjiao Performing Arts Group. Musicians include the Juilliard String Quartet, Empire Brass Quintet and singer Guan Guimin, who has been called China's Pavarotti.

For local Vietnamese Americans, the Tet '06 Festival is the county's first large-scale New Year celebration for their culture. In recent years, local Vietnamese-Americans have gone to Orange County for the closest large celebration, said Quynh Nguyen, public relations coordinator for the event.

Admission to Tet '06 at Qualcomm Stadium is $4. The event began Friday and included the county's first Miss Vietnam of San Diego contest. Today's events begin at 10 a.m. with a performance by the African dance team the Malikl from UC San Diego. Besides Vietnamese performances throughout the day, today's events also include a Hawaiian dance performance, jazz dancing and tap dancing.

The event also includes a miniature village, 25 carnival rides and more than 100 booths.

Escondido resident Phuong Lee came to the United States from Vietnam about 25 years ago and recalls New Year celebrations deep in tradition and rituals.

Ten days before the new year, people begin cleaning their houses, she said. The preparations can even include painting the house six days before the new year.

"Ong Tao is the god of the kitchen," she said. "You pray to him seven days before the New Year. We're praying for him to let him go to the gods."

In other words, she said, Ong Tao gets a weeklong vacation once a year, away from the kitchen he protects, to visit with other gods. Sweets are left in the kitchen for Ong Tao to enjoy as people are praying for him, she said.

Deceased ancestors also are included in new year celebrations, Lee said.

"Every day we pray and leave food for them," she said, adding that the doors to the homes must be left open to allow the ancestors to enter. At midnight on New Year's Eve, the doors are opened once more, more prayers are said and a watermelon is sliced open. If it is red and sweet inside, the year ahead will bring good luck, she said.

People also go to their temples to pray on New Year's Eve, and many people participate in dragon dances, although they are not as popular as in China. Brooms are put away for a few days because sweeping the house may mean sweeping away any good luck that the new year brings.

During the first days of the new year, people visit one another and give presents. Gifts must be in pairs for good luck, and common presents include red envelopes containing money and Banh Tet cakes made of sticky rice and meat, wrapped in banana leaves.

This week also marks a new year for some Muslims who follow the lunar-based Islamic calendar. Tomorrow is the first day of Muharram, the first month of the new year on that calendar, although many Muslim countries follow the same calendar as the West.

Imam Nader Dehani of the Masjid Al-Ittehad (mosque) in Vista said the arrival of the new year is not celebrated by Muslims.

"We don't believe in celebrating one particular day," he said. "Every day is a celebration, as long as you're worshipping God."

Chinese New Year celebrations:

• Hua Xia Chinese School, 10440 Black Mountain Road, San Diego: 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. today. A lion and dragon dance at 11:30 a.m., followed by stage performances at noon. The event also will have food booths and games until 3 p.m. Call (858) 720-1211.

• Chinese New Year Global Gala, California Center for the Arts, Escondido: 8 p.m. Feb. 9. Tickets are $35 to $75; $3 discount for seniors and students; 10 percent off for groups of 10 or more. Call (888) 880-0372 or e-mail sandiego@ntdtv.com.

• San Diego Chinese Center, San Diego: Free festival at Third Avenue and J Street. The festival will include Asian cuisine, martial art and cooking demonstrations, a children's area, cultural exhibits and lion and dragon dances. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 11 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 12. Call (619) 234-7844.

Vietnamese New Year celebration:

• Tet '06, Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. today. Tickets are $4 adults, $3 children, and ages 5 and under free. Dance performances, singers, the African dance team the Malikl from UC San Diego, Hawaiian dance performance, jazz dancing and tap dancing. Call (619) 471-5063.

Related links:

The Chinese New Year Global Gala: http://www.sd-gala.com.

San Diego Chinese Center: http://www.sandiegochinese.net/sdcc/index.htm.

The Vietnamese Tet '06 Festival: http://www.sdtet.com.

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at gwarth@nctimes.com or (760) 740-5410.