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Vancouver Chinese New Year Chinatown Parade in 2024

Lion Dance Lion in Chinatown

The Vancouver Chinatown Spring Festival Parade, also known as the Vancouver Chinese New Year Parade, takes place on the Sunday after the Lunar New Year.

In 2024 the 50th edition of the parade happens on Sunday, February 11th. That’s the day after New Year’s Day this year according to the lunar calendar.

 


This article contains the following information about the annual parade:

Where and When? | Parade Length | What’s the Parade Like? | Other Activities | Chinese New Year in Chinatown Video | Tips and Advice | Other Information


 

Just for Laughs Vancouver

 

Vancouver Chinatown Spring Festival Parade

The Vancouver Chinatown Spring Festival Parade occurs in the heart of Vancouver’s Chinatown. It’s a sight to see!

For information about other Chinese and Lunar New Year celebrations around the same time, see our article about New Year in the Lower Mainland. Or, for details specifically about events in Vancouver’s Chinatown area, click Chinese New Year in Downtown Vancouver. Other activities in downtown Vancouver include celebrations at International Village Mall and free LunarFest festivities outside the Vancouver Art Gallery. The Chinese Canadian Museum also hosts special activities on February 10th and 11th in 2024.

To learn about the Vancouver Chinatown Spring Festival Parade, continue reading.

 

Chinese Canadian Museum

 


MUSEUM, TOURS & FLYING FILM

One of the best places in the country to learn about the history and contributions of people of Chinese descent in this country is at the Chinese Canadian Museum. It’s a great museum located at 51 East Pender Street in the heart of Chinatown.

If you ever want to really learn about and explore Vancouver’s Chinatown we highly recommend Historical Chinatown Tours. They are great to do any time of the year, but especially during the Lunar New Year season. During parade day one of the tours includes access to an exceptional private spot above the road for viewing the parade!

Another exceptional activity to experience during the Lunar New Year season is watching the multidimensional film Soar Over Taiwan at FlyOver Canada (which is at Canada Place, so less than a 10-minute drive from Chinatown. The theatre has a variety of films at different times of the year. The film about Taiwan, however, is only in Vancouver between January 22nd and February 11th in 2024


 

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Historical Chinatown Tours

 

Where and When does the Chinese New Year Parade Happen?

The parade takes place in Chinatown. It begins by the Millennium Gate. Parade participants, floats and bands usually start around Taylor Street and Shanghai Alley. They then make their way along East Pender Street, then Gore Street and then Keefer Street before finishing at around Keefer and Abbott.

The Millennium gate is located outside the International Village Mall which is located at 88 West Pender. The shopping centre is where additional festivities take place all that weekend most years. The parade finishes at the intersection of Keefer Place and Carrall Street, so just by Andy Livingstone Park.

In 2024 the parade takes place on Sunday, February 11th. It starts at 11:00 am and usually runs until about 1:00 pm, plus or minus.

 

Chinese New Year Parade on Keefer Street
Keefer Street on Parade Day

 

How Long is Vancouver’s Chinese New Year Parade?

The Vancouver Chinese New Year Parade is a relatively short parade in distance, by Vancouver standards, but one of the city’s longer ones with respect to time. It runs for about 1.3 km and lasts for between two and two and a half hours.

For comparison, the Pride Parade in August runs for about 1.5 hours and stretches approximately 2.4 km from start to finish. The Vancouver Halloween Parade in October, meanwhile, lasts for less than an hour and covers close to 2.4 km in distance.

The 1.3-km-long Chinese New Year Parade route starts at the Millennium Gate on Pender Street (between Shanghai Alley and Taylor Street). It then proceeds east along Pender Street, turns south onto Gore Street, turns west onto Keefer Street and then ends at Carrall Street.

 

Parkade View of Chinatown Parade

 

What is Vancouver’s Chinese New Year Parade Like?

The Vancouver Chinatown Spring Festival Parade is impressive. It’s a massive parade that attracts up to a hundred thousand spectators and close to six dozen parade entries. In the parade itself are as many as 5000 participants. There are people on floats, in marching bands, walking in costume, drumming on drums, shooting off fire crackers, handing out swag and waving from cars.

Expect to see gazillions of people at the parade – especially if the weather is good – and expect to hear lots of noise. The sidewalks along Pender, Gore and Keefer are packed full of people. The sounds of drums fill the air. It’s a pretty fun and exciting event (unless you are claustrophobic or get stuck at the back of the crowd and can’t see anything).

 

Vancouver International Wine Festival

 

Chinatown Spectators at Chinese New Year Parade
Chinatown Crowds on East Pender

 

What Else is there at the Chinatown Spring Festival?

The parade is the main reason why people flock to Chinatown on the Sunday after the Lunar New Year, but that’s not the only thing to see. There are also free festivities at the International Village Mall all weekend, and a Chinese New Year event at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden on the same day as the parade. On the Saturday and Sunday of the Lunar New Year weekend in 2024, there are also tours as well as calligraphy and printmaking activities at the Chinese Canadian Museum.

In addition to the other above events, after the parade, there is Lion Dancing in the streets most years. As soon as the parade finishes many spectators rush to the nearby mall or garden, hoping to get there before the rest of the crowds. Others rush to their cars, busses or nearby SkyTrain station, again in hopes of beating the crowds and gridlocked traffic in their attempts to get home. Others though stick around for the post-parade show!

 

Vancouver events at Lunar New Year

Lion Dance in Chinese New Year Parade
A Lion Dance in the Parade

 

Lion Dancing in the Streets

The entertainment doesn’t end when the parade finishes. If you hang around for a while after you’ll see the Lion Dancing. Listen for the drumming and look out for the crowd and you’ll find them.

A tradition at Chinese New Year is for a team of dancers and drummers to do a Lion Dance performance where they dance in the street, visit area merchants, eat offerings of lettuce and bless the businesses. It’s fun to watch and worth sticking around for.

 

Jack Chow Insurance in Chinatown at New Years
Crowds Around a Post-Parade Lion Dance

 

Chinese New Year in Chinatown Video

The following video contains scenes of events and activities during Chinese New Year in Vancouver’s Chinatown neighbourhood.

The video features the parade from various roads and angles. It also shows lion dancing in the streets and at the Chinatown Plaza Mall. In the video you’ll also see scenes of performances at the International Village Mall. As evident in the video, thousands of people turn out for the celebrations.

 

 

Tips and Advice

Below are some suggestions to help you make the most out of your Vancouver Chinatown Spring Festival Parade experience.

TIP #1: The crowds along the parade route can get pretty thick. If you’re short, have young children or hope to set up a chair, you’ll want to arrive as much as an hour before the start of the parade to claim a prime spot at the edge of the sidewalk.

TIP #2: Stick around at the end of the parade to watch the Lion Dancing.

TIP #3: If you don’t like crowds, don’t go to the parade! And if you’re already there and want to escape, but not go too far, head to the International Village Mall or Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden. They are both really busy after the parade, but quieter while the parade is still going on compared to later in the afternoon. New for 2024, there is also lots to see and do at the Chinese Canadian Museum.

TIP #4: If you ever want to really learn about local Chinese-Canadian culture, Chinatown and its history, consider going on a tour with Historical Chinatown Tours. They take place throughout the year. You can join one during the Lunar New Year season or later in the year.

 

Chinese New Year Parade Crowds in Chinatown
Parade Crowds and the Millennium Gate

 

Other Information

For more details about what else to see and do in downtown Vancouver, see our Vancouver Chinese New Year article. For information about events in other parts of the Lower Mainland, click Chinese New Year Activities.

To learn about the history of Chinese migration to Canada, and the history of Chinese Canadians, visit the Chinese Canadian Museum in Chinatown.

To learn about Chinatown in BC’s capital city, see the website Victoria’s Best Places.