There is always room for firsts, even for a 2,000-year-old festival. The Lantern Festival, also called the Chinese Yuanxiao Festival, marked the end of the Chinese Lunar New Year this past Friday through Sunday. It was at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, the first Chinese garden built outside of China and hosted, for the first time, by a local group that calls itself Pop-Up Culture and Media.
The visual draw of Lanterns in the Garden is, naturally, the lanterns themselves. Bulbous red lanterns lined the roof of the walkways of the garden, and traditional dragons and not-so-traditional animĂ© style lanterns popped out of the dark garden — all 1,000 were made by artists in China and shipped to Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»via container.
“The most exciting moment is when I hear the vessel is coming,” said Pop-Up director Tina Wu. “I’ve been waiting for it for a long time.”
Lanterns clustered around the gardens, suspended on winter’s bare tree branches, and stirred when touched by the wind’s whisper by the pond’s surface. While they’re made to withstand harsh weather thanks to a long and complicated design process, visitors to Lanterns in the Garden were invited to make simple lotus lanterns of their own under the instruction of Master Gu Ye Liang, a member of the Chinese Lantern Committee under the Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage based in Qinhuai District, China.
The lanterns, traditional food and the ever-popular riddle-solving games hit all the ingredients of the festival. If the bonus was holding the festival in the beautiful gardens, then the cherry on top was having snow on the ground leftover from last week’s storm, said Pop-Up event coordinator Nina Qiu.
“There were several New Year celebrations happening in Vancouver, but the location has never been so ideal, to have it at the Chinese garden here. It’s a perfect fit,” she said. “We are extremely blessed, very fortunate, and very excited. It was snowing very heavily in Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»so the red and white of the garden, the colour arrangement, is the best thing ever.”
The lanterns at this time of the year symbolize the moon and represent happiness, health and prosperity, said Qui. The festival, which has been celebrated since the days of the Han Dynasty when Buddhist monks lit lanterns to show respect to the Buddha on the 15th day of the Lunar new year, also is viewed as a traditional take on the western celebration of Valentine’s Day as it was one of the few times in the distant past when unmarried females were allowed to freely leave their homes. In a nod to this tradition, Lanterns in the Garden had a “Lover’s Room.” Couples were invited to sit in a row boat positioned on snow-covered pavement surrounded by lily and string lights. The effect was so effective it looked like a lakeside movie set.
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen garden has hosted several lantern celebrations over the years since it was opened in 1986, but this was be its first new year’s lantern festival. For Vincent Kwan, the garden’s executive director who arrived in Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»from China that same year, it’s a special celebration.
“With the snow in the garden, it’s one of the most beautiful sights you can have. For me, it’s incredibly beautiful to look at,” he said. “The garden is honoured to be chosen by the organizing team for this festival. It aligns well with our mission in promoting culture and we are very proud of it.”
Lanterns in the Garden is Pop-Up’s first endeavor, and the team has plans to make the celebration an annual one.
@rebeccablissett
