Vancouver Chinese New Year Parade 2013
byRing in the Year of the Snake on Sunday, February 17, 2013 with Vancouver’s 40th annual Chinese New Year parade and spring festival.
Parade Features
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the parade, it will be bigger than ever this year with marching bands, cultural dance troupes, lion dancers, community groups, the Vancouver Police Department Motorcycle Drill Team, and over 60 other entries bringing together 3,000 participants for an estimated 50,000 spectators. Festivities will kick off earlier as well with the parade setting out at 11:00am, taking 2.5 hours to complete.
Parade Route
The 1.3km parade route has been adjusted for 2013 to accomodate more participants. It will start out at the Millenium Gate on Pender (between Shanghai Alley and Taylor Street) and proceed east along Pender, turning south on Gore, west on Keefer, then dispersing at Keefer and Taylor.
TV Broadcast
If you can’t make it out to the parade, you can watch delayed coverage on Shaw Multicultural Channel, Shaw TV, and Omni later that day and the following weekend. Check local listings for exact times.
Post-Parade Lion Dances
Following the parade there will be lion dances throughout Chinatown. The lions will perform a celebrative dance at each participating shop to bring good luck and prosperity from approximately 2:00pm to 4:00pm.
The Cultural Fair and Chinatown Spring Festival will take place on Saturday, February 16 and Sunday, February 17, 2013 at the Sun Yat-Sen Plaza (50 East Pender). This event is free and open to all. It will feature multicultural performances, a lion dance grande finale, martial arts demonstrations and more. Stop by between 1:00pm and 4:00pm on Saturday and between 2:00pm and 4:00pm on Sunday.
For more information about Chinese New Year festivities in Vancouver’s Chinatown, visit the website of the Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver.
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I cannot wait for this! Such a great time of year.