Lunar New Year events return to Metro Vancouver

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A host of dignitaries, including BC Premier David Eby and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, are in Vancouver’s Chinatown as several events across Metro Vancouver celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Sunday is marked the first day of the year in many Asian cultures, according to the lunisolar calendar.

And this year Year of the Rabbit – one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals, with that Year of the Cat in Vietnamese culture.

In Vancouver, the Chinatown Spring Festival Parade returns for the first time since 2020. It is considered to be the largest parade in Canada.

Hundreds of people line the streets to see traditional lion and dragon dances, cultural dance troupes, marching bands, martial arts performances and more.

A group of people in traditional clothes at the front of a Chinese New Year parade, with dragons and blue flags visible behind.
The parade saw traditional lion and dragon dances, cultural dance troupes, marching bands, martial arts performances and more. (Genevieve Lasalle/Radio-Canada)

The parade is one such public event that returns to Vancouver and other parts of BC

Two white men smile at the head of a parade of people, with a Sikh on the left.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, BC Premier David Eby and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh were all at Sunday’s parade. (Daryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

At the event, Trudeau, Eby, Conservative Leader Pierre Polievre, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, among others.

A group of people hold a large red and yellow dragon in a Chinese New Year parade.
Many dragon dances and other traditional celebrations are seen in the parade in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (Genevieve Lasalle/Radio-Canada)

Still, news from a shooting at the Lunar New Year event in California gives a break to people in the event, including the prime minister.

“We will be there for any support that Canada can offer,” Trudeau told reporters before the parade began on Saturday.

Picture of a Chinese dragon, with the great Chinatown gate in the background.
The parade comes after two years off the streets of Chinatown because the pandemic prevented large gatherings. Leaders said they hope the event shows the importance of uniting against anti-Asian hate. (Genevieve Lasalle/Radio-Canada)

Despite the tragic events south of the Canada-US border, thousands of Canadians are still taking to the streets to officially mark what the Chinese zodiac system calls the Year of the Rabbit.

“This is a reminder of why we need to come together like this to fight hate, fight racism, come together and celebrate our cultural diversity here in BC,” Premier Eby told CBC News.

People in rabbit fursuits are depicted in parades.
This year is the Year of the Rabbit in Chinese culture. In the Chinese zodiac, each year is named after one of the 12 animals that rotate based on the lunisolar calendar. (Genevieve Lasalle/Radio-Canada)

Frank Huang, one of the parade’s coordinators, said he hopes the Year of the Rabbit will bring prosperity to Chinatown.

A collection of people pose with red flags reading 'Vancouver Chinatown Spring Festival' at the head of the parade.
Many dignitaries, including the prime minister, opposition leaders, MPs and MLAs all attended the Chinatown parade. (Wildinette Paul/Radio-Canada)

Another event marks the occasion

Around Metro Vancouver, festival mainstays like the Aberdeen Centre’s countdown and flower fair are also returning.

BC Liberal Party Leader Kevin Falcon was at the mall on Saturday for the countdown, which also returns this year.

WATCH | Tour through Aberdeen Center during the festival:

Tour through Richmond’s Aberdeen Center during Chinese New Year

Manager Tiffany Ho led a tour of vendors at Aberdeen Mall ahead of the Lunar New Year celebrations – the first since the pandemic measures ended.

Other events are also held to mark the occasion, such as the Year of the Rabbit celebration at the Chinatown International Village mall, as well as an art exhibition at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen.



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