A huge festival with lights, food, and other fun is happening in Chinatown this month.
Light Up Chinatown! is a two-day family-friendly festival on September 10-11 celebrating Vancouver's Chinatown community. There will be lights and lanterns all over the neighbourhood and fun food galore, including free treats (first-come, first-served), plus exciting activities.
The festival kicks off with an opening ceremony featuring speeches and a lion dance, with performances such as ballet, maestro, and others taking the stage throughout the day. The first day will end with a street salsa dance party.
Aside from food and festivities, there will be a Kids Zone (127 E Pender St across from the Chinatown Storytelling Centre) with lantern making, balloon twisting, water tattoos, and other arts and crafts.
Taste of Chinatown
For the foodies, Taste of Chinatown is a series of self-guided culinary walking tours of Chinatown that's also part of the festival's souvenir passport (collect all the stamps for a chance to win a grand prize of $250). Diners can taste the flavours of Chinatown on self-guided tours including the Pastry Walk, Noodle Pull, Chinatown Legends, and Top 10 Dishes.
There's also a tantalizing special treat available: Peking duck croissants. On both festival days from 2 to 4 p.m., Beaucoup Bakery and Chinatown BBQ (130 E Pender St) will be selling their popular Peking duck croissants on a first-come, first-served basis.
Other Taste of Chinatown specials include a late night happy hour at Saigon on Sept. 10 with sales from the feature cocktail donated to the Chinatown Foundation, plus a dim sum lunch with local celebrity Fred Lee (Sept. 11 from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Floata Seafood Restaurant priced $50 per person).
Stage lineup
There will be music in the air all weekend long and those wanting to stick around for a certain performance, whether improv comedy or hip-hop and breakdancing or traditional Chinese music, can bookmark the stage schedule below:
September 10
11 a.m. - Opening Ceremony
12:45 p.m. - Traditional Chinese music by Goldenpearl Ensemble
2 p.m. - Performance by children living in and around Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (St. James Music Academy)
3:15 p.m - Performance by Hip-Hop and breakdancing crew Now Or Never
4:30 p.m. - Improv comedy by all-Asian group Fistful of Kicks
5:45 p.m. - Performance by hustle dancers with music by Niña Mendoza
7 p.m. - Local band, Medison Reunion Band, takes the stage
8:15 p.m. - street salsa party with Latin music
September 11
12 p.m. - Vancouver-based quartet, Backporch Serenaders, playing traditional jazz
1:15 p.m. - Different Chinese dance styles (classical, folk, ethnic, contemporary and more) by Lorita Leung Dance Academy
2:30 p.m. - Maestro Kenneth Hsieh performs with violinist Ken Lin
3:10 p.m. - Rosa Cheng performs Cantonese Opera from the balcony of a historic heritage building (Chinese Benevolent Association at 108 E Pender St)
3:45 p.m. - Performance by pianist Herbert and his music friends
5 p.m. - Marie Hui closes the festival with a strong, soulful performance
Light Up Chinatown!
When: Sept. 10 starting at 11 a.m. and Sept. 11 starting at noon
Where: Chinatown. Main Stage at the intersection of Columbia and Keefer streets; Kids Zone at 127 E Pender St (across from the Chinatown Storytelling Centre) from noon to 4 p.m.
Cost: Free
