Chinese New Year was celebrated on January 25-26, 2020, at Richmond’s Dharma Drum Vancouver Centre with a variety of spiritual and family-friendly activities.
Note: In 2021 and 2022, because of COVID-19, there weren’t any special events. It doesn’t look like any large in-person celebrations happened in 2023 either, nor in 2024. The place is still open and operating. It just hasn’t offered big Lunar New Year events for the public in recent years.
Check the official Dharma Drum Centre website for the latest details about their events.
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 and again in 2020, however, there wasn’t as much in the way of performances. Similar to the year before, in 2020 there were 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 2020 the free event ran from 1:00 until 3:00 pm on Saturday, January 25th, and Sunday, January 26th.
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 2020 the event included the following activities:
- Ritual Activities: ceremonial lighting of lamps and offerings to the Buddha in the Chan Hall.
- Crafts: visitors could trace the Heart Sutra on a paper and then turn it into an Omamori (i.e., a Japanese amulet).
- Traditional Games: five game stations were set up for children and adults.
- Refreshments and Meditation: Mindful Tea and Mindful Coffee meditation opportunities.
- Music Performance: Guzheng performed music on the piano.
If you happen to be in Richmond and you are 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.
Other articles that might be of interest include the following:
- Vancouver Chinese New Year Parade
- Lunarfest Vancouver
- Vancouver’s January and February Event Calendars
- Places for History and Culture
