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Colourful parade in Vancouver Chinatown celebrating Lunar New Year

Xinhua, February 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Some 3,000 people braved the drizzling rain Sunday morning in a colourful parade along the streets of Chinatown in Vancouver to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year.

The parade, with lion dance teams, marching bands, martial artists, multicultural dance troupes and more -- drew around 100,000 spectators to the streets.

This is the 43rd annual parade, and one of the biggest in Vancouver. It lasted about two-and-a-half-hour in the heart of Chinatown. Starting from 1974 with a small group of Chinese Canadians in Vancouver, the event has now grown into a spectacular event every year.

It's great for people of all ages and cultural backgrounds, said Jun Ing, vice-president of the Chinese Benevolent Association and chief coordinator of the parade.

"I would say this is what we call a success, to be able to bring more people and make it more relevant so everybody is coming in and taking part in the celebration," Ing said.

"That was our goal: to bring more people together so they can share our Chinese heritage and enjoy the celebration. If that happens, we've achieved our objectives," he added.

This year's parade involved not only ethnic diversity, but other aspects such as gender equality and environmentalism.

"2016 is the Year of the Monkey - the species closest to the human being, and today's parade coincides with the Valentine's Day. How wonderful it is," said Sam Lin, an on-looker.

Lin said he immigrated from Shanghai to Vancouver nine years ago and has been out to watch the parade every year with his family for the past eight years. "It not only reminds me of the tradition of my origin but also passes the Chinese roots to my children and beyond," he noted.

Chinese Lunar New Year fell on Feb. 8 this year but the festival celebration lasts about a month till the end of February.

Performances, temple fairs, singing and dancing parties, lectures and more dominate the Spring Festival season for the Chinese community here in Vancouver, lightening up the festival atmosphere for the whole city.

The Lunar New Year's new role in Metro Vancouver is in accordance with the original purpose of the celebrations, that is, to build a closer-knit community, Ing said. Endit