Yuan Xiao Lantern Festival
元宵節慶
ABOUT
The Lantern Festival, also called Yuan Xiao Festival, is a holiday celebrated in China and other Asian countries on the 15th day of the first month (Yuan) of the Chinese lunar calendar. The Lantern Festival aims to promote love, reconciliation, peace, and forgiveness. Traditionally, people celebrate this day with good food, enjoying lanterns and lantern riddles. The (traditional) lanterns are always very colourful, especially red, to invoke good fortune and lighting lanterns symbolize “illuminating the future”.
We wish to celebrate this special day with the greater Calgarian community, we will showcase visual art by local artists, craft tables, lantern riddles, support cultural heritage, promote cultural exchange and more!
Event details include:
1. A public viewing of Kid Dragon’s dance performance on January 29 and February 5 (Sunday) between 10 and 11 a.m.
2. Traditional Chinese music performed by a Chinese orchestra
3. Face painting
4. Calligrapher Angie Yu will demonstrate how to write Chinese characters for visitors’ names.
5. Renee Zhang's painting exhibition on our center’s second floor
6. Glenbow Museum Chinese artifact exhibition on the Cultural Centre’s second floor
7. Artist David Xu who specializes in painting portraits on egg shells will display his work
8. Rawry & Pohly's lantern exhibition "Harvest of Lights" to give insight on unique Asian fruits and vegetables (The display will be up until 9 p.m.)
9. Give out free popcorn
10. Children’s story time
