A performance of Robam Choun Por will be among activities at the Cambodian new year celebration tomorrow at Pu'uhale Elementary School. The free festivities include a Buddhist ritual in the morning, and song, dance, storytelling and music in the evening.

While there are relatively few Cambodians in Hawai'i — about 60 households — the local Khmer community aims to perpetuate and share its culture at the new year event through traditional foods, theater, performances and crafts.

"This is important to Cambodians here because they are scattered everywhere, and this is a way for them to get together, feel proud, celebrate and maintain their cultural identity," said Chhany Sak-Humphry, an assistant professor and coordinator of the Khmer language program at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

During the communist Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979, some 1.7 million Cambodians were executed or died of starvation, disease or overwork. Among the victims were thousands of craftsmen, dancers, singers and musicians, said Christine Su, secretary of the Cambodian Community of Hawai'i.

"Because of the loss of artisans during the genocide of the 1970s, and because of the small nature of the community in Hawai'i, it is extremely important to Cambodians in Hawai'i to recreate this celebration here," Su said. "The traditions are true cultural treasures, with much knowledge no longer documented in written or visual form."

Saturday's celebration will begin with traditional Buddhist ceremonies, including a ceremony in which saffroned monks and Khmer community elders chant Buddhist texts, blessing the audience and welcoming the new year. Local Khmers bring food and other offerings to place before the monks and share with others.

"The pestle dance represents farmers celebrating their harvests on a night lit by the full moon," Su said. "Long pestles, which are used in everyday life to pound rice, serve as props in the dance."

There will be a fashion show of woven materials and silks, still made on wooden looms in the Cambodian countryside. Between each program segment there will be narration in both Cambodian and English, explaining the meaning and history of the performances.

Local Cambodians have been celebrating the new year for the past 10 years with potluck gatherings, said Savouth Chea, president of the Cambodian Community of Hawai'i, but this is the first time the organization is holding a large-scale celebration and opening it to the public.

"We want to really promote the culture," Chea said. "We want to start a new trend and make this an annual event."

While a special emphasis will be made to welcome non-Cambodian guests, organizers also hope Cambodian youths will benefit from the celebration.

"It's for the new generation," Chea said. "They tend to forget their own language and culture, so this is one way to get the youths involved with the community."

Reach Zenaida Serrano at zserrano@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8174.