This winter the Vancouver Chinese Lantern Festival, the largest festival of its kind in Canada, will feature 35 illuminated displays transforming over 14 acres of the PNE grounds at Hastings Park into an explosion of light and colours.
Vancouver Chinese Lantern Festival
Where: PNE Grounds, enter off the corner of Hastings and Renfrew Dates: December 15, 2017 (closed Christmas Day) until January 21, 2018 Times: Friday to Saturday 5:00pm to 11:00pm, Sunday to Thursday 5:00pm to 10:00pm Tickets: Available online now through TicketLeader. Children under 3 years old are free. Group Rates available for groups of 10 and more, call 604-252-3663 for more info.
Lantern festivals started during the Han Dynasty, about 2,000 years ago. For centuries, lanterns festivals have been lit on the fifteenth day of the first month in the Chinese calendar to pray for a good harvest, and to gain favor of Taiyi, god of heaven. Today, the lantern festivals are still held each year around the country, with each major Chinese city having its own light festival. In ancient times, the lanterns were fairly simple, and only the emperor and noblemen had large ornate ones.
In modern times, lanterns have been embellished with many complex designs such as the ones that will be on display at the PNE. Zigong, hometown of the Lantern Festival, has some of the best lantern artisans in China where skills and a tradition of craftsmanship are passed down through the generations. The Vancouver event will feature Dragon, White Pagoda, Kylin, and Huabiao Column lanterns, each lantern symbolizing a Chinese sage or legend.
In addition to the lantern displays, the festival will also include nightly performances in the PNE Amphitheatre: 6:30pm & 8:30pm on Sundays through Thursdays and 6:30pm, 8:30pm & 9:30pm on Fridays & Saturdays. Featuring Face Changing, Acrobatics, Plate Spinners, Folk Dance, Jar Balancing and Erhu. These exciting performances are family friendly, and are sure to wow. The lantern festival will also feature a food and beverage program and additional children’s activities.
Win Tickets
I have a family pack of admission tickets (two adults and two children valued at $55) for the debut of the world-renowned Vancouver Chinese Lantern Festival. Here’s how you can enter to win:
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I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Wednesday, December 20, 2017.
Earlier this season, I shared the story of BC midwife Jennica Rawstron, a volunteer midwife supervisor with Cuso International in Ethiopia. She worked alongside local midwives, who were helping women through difficult deliveries – often in situations that most Canadian women would never face. As a Canadian midwife, Jennica was tasked with training her Ethiopian counterparts at a hospital.
This season, you can give to the Cuso CAN Fund, which supports Cuso International’s high priority maternal and child health projects in Ethiopia, Benin, Nigeria, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
This holiday season, you can give pregnant women in Ethiopia the gift they want more than anything else: to deliver their babies safely. Women like Abeba, who arrived at Pawe Hospital, bleeding, in labour and in distress.
Her husband Mulu sat by her side, hoping the bleeding would stop. Praying for her life and the life of their unborn child. Through your support, midwives at the hospital had been learning how to handle birth emergencies from vounteers like Jennica.
Because of their training, they were able to stop Abeba’s bleeding and called a doctor to perform a c-section. Shortly after, Abeba delivered a healthy baby boy.
When you support the health of moms and babies, your gifts will have a ripple effect within families and communities. Healthy mothers can take better care of their children, and they can work to lift their families out of poverty. Healthy children can go to school, realize their potential, and build the future of their communities and countries.
In Canada, most mothers and babies have access to the care they need in hospitals, or at home through the services of midwives. But in Ethiopia there are fewer qualified health workers. As a result, Ethiopian mothers and babies are far more likely to lose their lives from causes that are easily preventable with the basic health care and resources.Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
I visited Burnaby Village Museum Heritage Christmas earlier this week, as the lights began to twinkle at twilight. The beautiful lakeside setting, bordered by a babbling brook, is truly magical. I strolled down the village streets under the 1920s style lights and cedar boughs, past buildings adorned with wreaths sporting big red bows.
Heritage Christmas at Burnaby Village Museum
Address: 6501 Deer Lake Ave, Burnaby When: November 25 to December 15, 2017 Monday to Friday, 1:00pm to 5:30pm; Saturday & Sunday, 1:00pm to 9:00pm. December 16, 2017 to January 5, 2018 daily 1:00pm to 9:00pm, closed December 24 & 25. Admission: Gate admission is FREE! Rides on the carousel are $2.65 each or $31.25 for Baker’s Dozen (which make great stocking stuffers).
It was early in the evening but there were still lots of families enjoying a turn on the carousel, and groups of friends taking Instagram-worthy photos throughout the village.
On Christmas Day, after the stockings are open and the turkey heads into the oven, there is a group of dedicated community volunteers that hits the streets to make sure everyone gets some holiday cheer as a part of the Whalley Santa Cause.
Whalley Santa Cause
Where: Gateway Skytrain Station, 13401 108 Ave, Surrey When: Monday, December 25, 2017 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm RSVP to the Facebook Event »
Now in its 7th year, the Whalley Santa Cause has been collecting donations of toiletries and personal hygiene items. On Christmas Day, they will meet at Gateway station to walk around the neighbourhood to hand out the hampers, jackets, sweaters, and socks.
Last year they had their biggest turn out, with 45 volunteers delivering boxes and bags full of toiletries and winter clothing to those living in tents along the Whalley Strip.
Most-Needed Items
New personal hygiene items such as deodorant, tooth brushes, shampoo, conditioner, hair brushes, socks, sweaters, scarves and gloves.
This year they are also looking for 2nd hand sweaters, scarves, mitts, brand new socks and underwear. Gently used winter jackets for the people they will see outside on Christmas Day.
Volunteers must be over the age of 16, as they are dealing with addiction, homelessness, active drug use and prostitution on the streets. Contact Whalley Santa Cause founder Erica Beckstead for more information and to sign up to help. Email: [email protected].
This holiday season, you can give pregnant women in Ethiopia the gift they want more than anything else: to deliver their babies safely. Women like Abeba, who arrived at Pawe Hospital, bleeding, in labour and in distress. 
