Where and how to celebrate Lantern Festival (last day of Chinese New Year) in Vancouver, B.C. area?
Where and how to celebrate the Lantern Festival (last day of Chinese New Year) in Vancouver, B.C. area? The Lantern Festival, according to Wikipedia, is:
a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar Chinese calendar. It marks the final day of the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations, and usually falls on some day in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25), it had become a festival with great significance. During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night to temples carrying paper lanterns and solve riddles on the lanterns.
Because Vancouver has such a robust Chinese cultural presence in the city, I was wondering where the best places to celebrate the Lantern Festival is? Or what is the best way to celebrate it in Vancouver?
I did some research and came across this Lantern in the Gardens event in Chinatown, but I was wonder if there are other events happening and if this is worth attending? (I only ask because I went to Chinatown on Chinese New Year's Eve -- and there was literally nothing going on. I had to keep checking to make sure that it was Chinese New Year Eve that night because I was so certain I got the date wrong... but I wasn't. It was all silent).
Best Answer
While Vancouver is home to hundreds of thousands of Chinese residents, it doesn't seem to have the Lantern Festival tradition yet, at least not on a massive scale. Google fails to turn up anything useful and searching Flickr for "lantern festival Vancouver" also fails to return any results for China-oriented events.
If you are interested in lantern festivals in general, rather than lantern festivals during the Chinese New Year, the biggest event is probably the Annual Winter Solstice Lantern Festival, which is held on December 21st each year. Judging by the photos from previous years, the event is pretty big and has several lantern-lighting locations across the city:
I presume that's the reason why Chinatown wasn't particularly active: all the lantern enthusiasts celebrate on a different date.
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Where is the Chinese New Year Lantern Festival?
Lantern FestivalLantern Festival \u5143\u5bb5\u7bc0 \u5143\u5bb5\u8282Lantern Festival celebrated in Tainan at nightOfficial nameYu\xe1nxi\u0101o ji\xe9 (\u5143\u5bb5\u7bc0) / Sh\xe0ngyu\xe1n ji\xe9 (\u4e0a\u5143\u7bc0)Observed byChineseTypeCultural6 more rowsDoes Chinese New Year end with Lantern Festival?
The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the first Chinese lunar month. The Lantern Festival marks the end of the Chinese New Year holiday, and is being celebrated today (15 February). Chinese New Year celebrations can last for up to 16 days, with seven days of those being a public holiday.Where is the Lantern Festival located?
Lantern Festival, also called Yuan Xiao Festival, holiday celebrated in China and other Asian countries that honours deceased ancestors on the 15th day of the first month (Yuan) of the lunar calendar. The Lantern Festival aims to promote reconciliation, peace, and forgiveness.Is there a Chinese New Year parade in Vancouver this year?
Vancouver Chinatown Spring Festival Parade. In 2020 Chinese New Year's Day was on Saturday, January 25th, and the parade was on Sunday, January 26th. In 2021 New Year's Day was on February 12th and the parade would ordinarily have taken place on the 14th. Because of COVID-19, however, nothing happened.Lantern Festival | What is the Lantern Festival in China \u0026 How to Celebrate it? (2022)
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Angela Roma, Francesco Ungaro, Angela Roma, Khoa Võ