MONTEREY PARK, CA — The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is proud to dedicate and unveil the 44-cent Celebrating Lunar New Year: Year of the Tiger stamp at the Monterey Park Chinese New Year Festival on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010, at noon. The festival takes place at the Barnes Park Amphitheatre at 350 S. McPherrin Ave., in Monterey Park.

Monterey Park Postmaster Donna Sosa will officiate at the stamp unveiling during the festival’s opening ceremonies. The Monterey Park Chinese New Year Festival features customary lion and dragon dances, Chinese acrobats, martial arts demonstrations and much more, including live music and traditional food.

“Throughout our nation, Chinese communities have shared their traditions, culture and heritage and, in return, the Postal Service is pleased to participate in the Monterey Park Chinese New Year Festival and present the third of twelve stamps in our Celebrating Lunar New Year series,” said Sosa.

The Postal Service will have the stamps for sale as well as related philatelic items, and will offer a Chinese New Year Festival special pictorial postmark to commemorate the day. The collectible postmark, which is applied at no charge to any First-Class postage stamp on request, will also be available for 30 days at the Monterey Park Post Office, 245 W. Garvey Ave., Monterey Park CA 91754-9998.

Stamp artist Kam Mak ― who was born in Hong Kong, grew up in New York City's Chinatown and now lives in Brooklyn, NY ― worked with Art Director Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, MD, focusing on some of the common ways the Lunar New Year holiday is celebrated. To commemorate the Year of the Tiger (Feb. 14, 2010 - Feb. 2, 2011) Mak chose narcissus flowers, which are considered auspicious at any time of year and thus especially appropriate at this time of renewed hope for the future. The illustration was originally created using oil paints on a fiberboard panel.

Kessler’s design also incorporates elements from the previous series of Lunar New Year stamps introduced in 1992, using Clarence Lee’s intricate paper-cut tiger design and the Chinese character for "Tiger," drawn in grass-style calligraphy by Lau Bun.

The new stamp was originally issued on Jan. 14, 2010, at the El Pueblo Historical Monument, the site of the original Chinatown in Los Angeles.

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