The Pull of the Net: A Multicultural Celebration was an annual event at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery in Richmond’s Steveston Village.

The free event used to happen in May. It featured live music, dancing and storytelling. In 2020, however, because of the coronavirus pandemic, the event was postponed until September. Also, instead of being a live event, all the performances that year took place online.

The event didn’t happen in 2021 either, at least not in its usual in-person format. In 2022, instead of the Pull of the Net event, the Cannery hosted a Welcoming the Sun event on July 23rd. The Pull of the Net event didn’t happen in 2023 either, but the Welcoming the Sun event celebrating Indigenous People’s Day in June did.

Richmond’s Pull of the Net Event at the Cannery in Steveston Village

In years when it did happen, The Pull of the Net: A Multicultural Celebration featured Indigenous dancers, Japanese drummers and other performers of various cultural backgrounds. It was normally a one-day event both inside and outside the Gulf of Georgia Cannery in Steveston Village at the beginning of May. In 2020, however, it was a weeklong virtual event with performances taking place online in September.

Pull of the Net at Gulf of Georgia Cannery — Pull of the Net Crowds at the Cannery

Virtual Celebrations in 2020

In 2020, the Pull of the Net: A Multicultural Celebration took place during the week of September 21st to 27th.

At the virtual event there was a Lion Dance and Indigenous singing and dancing. There were also calligraphy demonstrations and other multicultural activities.

Similar to previous years, performers in 2020 included dancers from the Northern Shaolin Traditional Martial Arts Club as well as the Coastal Wolf Pack. The Japanese drumming was with Uzume Taiko. There were also workshops on both Chinese and Japanese calligraphy, environmental activities hosted by Ocean Wise, and a number of other interesting things to watch and do.

Japanese Drummers at Gulf of Georgia Cannery — Tetsu Taiko Japanese Drummers from 2019

The Live Event in 2019 and Other Years

To give you an idea of what to expect in years when there isn’t a global pandemic, below was the schedule of events from 2019.

Indoor Entertainment

12:15 pm – Fan Dancing (with Jessica Yue)
1:00 pm – Highland Dancing
2:00 pm – Sea Shanties (with Greg Meloche)
3:15 pm – Steveston Drumming Circle

Outdoor Entertainment

11:00 am – Opening Ceremony
11:30 am – Lion Dance (by the Northern Shaolin Traditional Martial Arts Club)
12:30 pm – Coastal Wolf Pack (a Musqueam Nation Dance Group)
1:30 pm – Zougla (a Greek Band)
3:00 pm – Japanese Drumming (with Tetsu Taiko)
3:30 pm – Eagle Connection Dancers