LunarFest is a festival celebrating the Lunar New Year in Vancouver. Part of LunarFest is The Lantern City which features lantern-themed art installations.
In 2024 LunarFest runs from February 9th to 29th. Celebrating the Year of the Dragon, its theme this year is “Born to Be Free.” There are activities on Granville Island and a free show at the Orpheum Theatre. The Lantern City art installations, meanwhile, can be seen at four different locations throughout most of the festival.
With different starting and finishing dates, special lantern art exhibits are at Granville Island, outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, at Jack Poole Plaza and at the Pendulum Gallery between February 5th and March 1st.
See our article about LunarFest or visit the LunarFest Vancouver website to learn more about the festival. To learn about The Lantern City, continue reading or visit thelanterncity.ca.
The Lantern City at Lunar New Year in Vancouver
Last year The Lantern City art installations were at three different venues in the City of Vancouver. In 2024 the displays are at four locations. You can see lanterns in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery until February 28th. There’s another installation at Jack Poole Plaza beside the Vancouver Convention Centre until February 27th. The third art installation is at the Ocean Art Works Pavilion on Granville Island until February 26th. New for 2024 is an exhibition at the Pendulum Gallery. It runs from February 5th until March 1st.
The lantern art displays outside the Vancouver Art Gallery are in šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square at 750 Hornby Street. Their theme in 2024 is “We are a Family.”
The art installation by the Vancouver Convention Centre is at the north end of Jack Poole Plaza. The plaza is at 1055 Canada Place at the foot of Thurlow Avenue. It’s on the far side of the main convention centre building from Canada Place. Called “Coastal Lunar Lanterns” in 2024, the art here has an Indigenous theme.
On Granville Island, the art installation is at the Ocean Art Works Pavilion. The venue’s address is 1531 Johnston Street which is just a block or so from the Granville Island Public Market. The theme for the art there is “Forever Young.”
Unlike the other lantern art installations in 2024, the displays at the Pendulum Gallery are indoors. The venue is in the HSBC Building at 885 West Georgia Street, so just across the street from the Vancouver Art Gallery. The exhibition features the works of a Taiwanese Canadian artist.
Click The Lantern City for the event’s official website.
Other Activities at The Lantern City Venues
In addition to the art display at the Ocean Art Works Pavilion on Granville Island, there are free LunarFest celebrations at the same venue on weekends between February 10th and 25th in 2024. Activities include an ongoing “Island Tribute” exhibition, as well as various artist talks. There’s also a new arts market featuring the works of about a dozen local artists. LunarFest workshops are held on Granville Island too. They include bamboo weaving, origami and more.
In addition to the art display at šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square in the plaza outside the at the Vancouver Art Gallery, there are craft workshops on the Saturday and Sunday of February 10th and 11th (which is the weekend of the Lunar New Year).
LunarFest is related to The Lantern City and it has its own series of events. With LunarFest there are special activities at Granville Island on the weekends of February 10th & 11th, 17th to 19th, and 24th & 25. With LunarFest there is also a free concert at the Orpheum Theatre on Thursday, February 13th.
Visit thelanterncity.ca or lunarfestvancouver.ca for the events’ official websites.
Other Information
To learn more about LunarFest and The Lantern City, visit the lunarfestvancouver.ca and thelanterncity.ca websites.
To learn about other events taking place at the same time of the year, see our article about the Lunar New Year in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver’s January and February calendars of events.
Other articles that might be of interest include the following:
- Free January Events in Vancouver
- LunarFest Vancouver
- Chinatown Spring Festival Parade
- Dine Out Vancouver Festival
Lunarfest and The Lantern City are put on by the same people behind TaiwanFest on the Labour Day Weekend in September. It too is a very interesting cultural event.
