Fire Dragon Festival in Vancouver
Enjoy cultural workshops and witness an exciting performance at the Fire Dragon Festival in Chinatown September 18-19, 3036. Follow the dragon at night as it twists and turns to the beat of drums through historic Vancouver streets.
Vancouver’s Fire Dragon Festival in Chinatown
- Dates: Friday, September 18 to Saturday, September 19, 2026
- Location: 578 Carrall St, Vancouver
- Admission: Free
- Register for the lantern workshop September 19 from 2:00pm to 6:00pm taking place at the Chinatown Memorial Square (135-137 Keefer St, Vancouver)
The main event on Saturday (September 19th) will see the Fire Dragon with its glowing embers snaking its way through the streets of Chinatown.
- Traditional Indigenous welcome
- Eye dotting ceremony of fire dragon
- Main Fire Dragon parade led by Chau Luen Athletics
The vision for the festival is to establish a community tradition through partnership and collaboration that will strengthen awareness and education about Chinatown’s cultural legacy for years to come.
Organizers share the Fire Dragon Legend
The origin of Fire Dragon Dance can be traced to over hundred years ago in Tai Hang, Hong Kong. After suffering from a storm, the people of Pok Fu Lam Village were attacked by a snake that shattered the village’s peaceful existence. The villagers caught and killed the snake, but in the days following the snake’s death, a nasty plague broke out in the region.
A village elder proclaimed that Buddha came to him in a dream, advising that to stop the misfortune, they must perform a fire dragon dance around the village for three days and three nights. The villagers obliged and miraculously, the plague went away. Thus began the tradition of the Fire Dragon.
To this day, the Fire Dragon Dance is the main activity of the Mid-Autumn celebration in Pok Fu Lam, and is a traditional custom of the Hakka ethnic group from China.
Follow the Fire Dragon Festival on Instagram for updates.
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