The streets of Vancouver’s historic Chinatown filled Sunday morning with the smell of firecrackers and food, the bright colours of dancing lions and dragons, and the happy shouts of revellers ringing in the Year of the Sheep.
The 42nd annual Vancouver Chinese New Year Parade attracted an estimated 100,000 spectators, according to organizers, and featured more than 80 teams, including everything from cultural groups to Scout troops, and lots of politicians of every stripe and level of government.
As always, the Chinese Lunar Year, which started Thursday, was feted with festivals and feasts in China and all around the world.
Cesar Loo and his family attended many Chinese New Year parades over the years in his hometown of Lima, Peru, but Sunday was their first time at the Vancouver event since moving to B.C. from South America. Loo said the Vancouver parade was “way bigger” than he had expected.
On a side street near Shanghai Alley, Vancouver city councillors Kerry Jang and Geoff Meggs, both longtime parade attendees, expressed their excitement over what Meggs called “a highlight of the year.”
Meggs added, to a round of laughter from those gathered nearby, the Chinese New Year parade is “the happiest day of the year in politics, because everybody is so pleased to see you — and that doesn’t normally happen.”
The Year of the Sheep (or Ram, or Goat) is associated with gentleness and caring, Jang said, adding “all the attributes of those animals are here this year.”
Around the corner, in the plaza in front of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, a group of actual sheep were bleating and posing for photographs.
B.C. NDP leader John Horgan was on hand for his first Vancouver Chinese New Year Parade, having previously attended the event in Victoria.
“I can’t stop beaming, this is so exciting,” Horgan said.
Sidewalk vendors peddled firecrackers (three packs for $5), and steamed spicy pork buns ($2 each, and delicious).
Making their parade debut, a dozen members of the Sikh Motorcycle Club cruised by on their bikes, heads clad in bright yellow and orange turbans.
After the parade wrapped up Sunday afternoon, chief organizer Jun Ing said he was happy: The attendance and weather were both great.
As Ing prepared for the evening’s gala dinner, where he would MC for 1,000 guests, he reflected on the meaning of the occasion.
“You have to make the best of everything, it doesn’t matter what year it is,” Ing said. “Every year is a good year.”
