Chinese New Year is celebrated on February 5, 2019, at Richmond’s Dharma Drum Vancouver Centre with a variety of spiritual and family-friendly activities.

(Note: The event in 2019 will be smaller than in past years. In previous years it has run for about 4 hours and included a variety of dance and drumming performances. In 2019, however, the event runs for just a couple of hours and there are just crafts and games instead of the performances. It’ll still be interesting though, and free.)

Chinese New Year at the Dharma Drum Centre

The Chinese New Year celebrations at the Dharma Drum Vancouver Centre are a free event that features crafts and games.

In past years the event has included multiple drumming groups, a lion dance and Chinese musical instrument performances, all of which made it especially interesting. In 2019, however, there are no performances scheduled. This year, instead, there are crafts, games and other less noisy and more meditative activities. See below for details.

Where and When

The celebrations take place at the Dharma Drum Vancouver Centre which is located at 8240 No.5 Road in Richmond.

In 2019 the free event runs from 1:30 am until 3:30 pm on Tuesday February 5th.

TIP: The Dharma Drum Vancouver Centre is right by the Thrangu Tibetan Buddhist Monastery which is located at 8140 Number 5 Road. Often there are interesting New Year celebrations there as well. While in the area, check that out too.

About the Event

The Dharma Drum Center is a Buddhist monastery and the New Year festivities there are interesting, especially for young families and anyone curious about Buddhism or Chinese culture.

It’s not a huge event, but does attract several hundred people. The celebrations also take place indoors, which makes it an ideal event if it’s raining outside.

In 2019 the event includes the following activities:

• Ritual Activities: ceremonial lighting of lamps and offerings to the Buddha in the Chan Hall.
• Crafts: trace the Heart Sutra on a paper and then turn it into an Omamori (i.e., a Japanese amulet).
• Traditional Games: three game stations will be set up for children and adults.
• Refreshments and Meditation: Mindful Tea and Mindful Coffee meditation opportunities.

If you happen to be in Richmond and you’re looking for a culturally interesting event that’s free, indoors and fun for young children, then it can be worth checking out the Chinese New Year celebrations at the Dharma Drum Centre (or at least it has been in previous years).

Other Information

For more information see the Dharma Drum Centre website.

For a list of other Chinese New Year Celebration events, see Chinese New Year in Metro Vancouver.