2012 - Year of the Dragon
Vancouver Chinatown Spring Festival Celebration
Sunday, January 29th, 2012

Chinese New Year Parade

The renowned Chinese New Year Parade will return in the Year of the Dragon on Sunday, January 29th, 2012. This signature event of Vancouver's Chinatown will feature lion dances, cultural dance troupes, marching bands, martial arts performances and much more. Year after year, the Chinatown parade is an annual cultural extravaganza not to be missed.

The Year of the Dragon begins on Monday, January 23rd, 2012. Come see the sights, hear the sounds and join the festivities of Chinese New Year to celebrate the Year of the Dragon!

Parade Highlights

The Chinese New Year Parade celebrates the new year of the Chinese lunar calendar and is a fun-filled event for everyone to enjoy. As one of the three largest non-commercial annual parades in Vancouver, the Chinese New Year Parade features the largest assembly of traditional lion dance teams in Canada with dozens of colourful and energetic lions from the various local fraternal and martial arts organizations.

Other highlights include multicultural dance troupes representing the diverse segments of our Canadian cultural heritage, the Vancouver Police Department Motorcycle Drill Team, marching bands and various community groups. The parade is expected to have some sixty non-commercial entries, bringing over 3,000 participants from various community and cultural groups. It is not surprising that the parade draws over 50,000 spectators along the route each year plus many more seeing it through TV coverage.

Parade Schedule

The parade starts at 12:00 noon sharp on Sunday, January 29th, 2012, and takes two hours to complete.

Parade Route

Identical to last year, the parade route is about 1.2 Km long. It starts at the Millennium Gate on Pender Street (between Shanghai Alley and Taylor Street), proceeds east along Pender Street, turns south onto Gore Street, turns west onto Keefer Street and then disperses at Keefer and Columbia. See map here

TV Broadcast

Shaw Broadcast

January 29, 2012
9:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Shaw Multicultural Channel 116 & Shaw TV (Channel 4)

Omni Broadcast

February 4, 2012
7:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Omni TV

Vancouver Chinatown Spring Festival – Cultural Fair

Come see our Cultural Fair for more Chinese New Year festivities. Due to popular demand, the Cultural Fair for 2012 will be held for two days (Saturday, January 28 and Sunday, January 29) from 11 am to 5 pm. The Cultural Fair will be hosted at the Sun Yat-sen Plaza (50 East Pender Street) for both days.

This celebrative event will feature multicultural performances, special lion dance grand finale, martial arts demonstration and more. Performance schedules are as follows:

Saturday, January 28 – 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Sunday, January 29 – 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Chinese New Year Banquet

The annual Chinese New Year Banquet will once again be held at the Floata Seafood Restaurant, featuring lion dances, ‘good luck’ greetings by the fortune god and a Chinese variety show with singing, cultural dances and more. Reception starts at 6 pm. Tickets are $35 each. The address is #400-180 Keefer Street.

Admission

All events of the 2012 Vancouver Chinatown Spring Festival are open to the public. The Chinese New Year Parade and the Cultural Fair have free admission.

Co-organizers

Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver
Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver
Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association
S.U.C.C.E.S.S
Chinese Freemasons Vancouver Branch
Shon Yee Benevolent Association

Got Questions? Please Email us.