The Fire Dragon Festival returns for a fourth year this Saturday, September 14. With daytime workshops and programming from 11:00am-5:00pm and the Fire Dragon Parade/Ceremony from 7:00pm-9:00pm, the Chinatown Celebration Society continues to ensure a memorable Mid-Autumn Festival in Chinatown.
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Daytime Programs
When: Saturday, September 14 from 11:00am to 5:00pm
Where: Chinatown Plaza (180 Keefer Street)
Cost: Free!
The Fire Dragon Festival kicks off with an all-day event jam-packed with fun activities and shows for all ages. Workshops and performances will be hosted throughout the day, including:
- Puppet storytelling by Allison
- Pottery with Ariel
- T-shirt upcycling with Christa
- Baking with Francine
- Watercolour painting with Gal
- Paint reclaimed leather earrings with Jamie
- Zine-making/collaging with Jessamine
- Post-it portraits by Regina
- Art therapy with Shannon
- Qilin unicorn dance by Kirin Rising 麒麟革命
- Serigraph prints and fine-printing by Taj
- Performance and sound garden by Burnaby North Secondary Chinese Orchestra
Fire Dragon Ceremony & Parade
When: Saturday, September 14 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Where: Carrall Street between Keefer & Pender, and Keefer Street between Carrall & Columbia (see map below)
Cost: Free!
The festival’s main event is the journey of the lit Fire Dragon through the streets of Chinatown. Beginning with an Indigenous welcome, traditional eye-dotting ceremony, and lighting of the incense to bring the dragon to life, the evening will conclude with a parade of the Fire Dragon along Keefer Street to the Chinatown Memorial Plaza (next to 105 Keefer).
Key Locations for the Fire Dragon parade.
About the Fire Dragon Festival
The Fire Dragon Festival was originally celebrated by the Hakka village of Tai Hang in Hong Kong to ward off plague and misfortune in the late 19th century. Tai Hang has continued this annual celebration continuously since 1880, only foregoing the festival during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and the COVID-19 pandemic. Here in Vancouver, community organizers introduced the Fire Dragon Festival in 1975, but the festival did not return until 2021 under the former Legacy Stewardship Group. Since 2022, the Fire Dragon Festival has been organized by the Chinatown Celebration Society.
“Members of the former Legacy Stewardship Group of Chinatown saw a need to preserve the Fire Dragon Festival to continue the mandate of promoting the culture and heritage of Vancouver’s Chinatown. Since 2022, the Chinatown Celebration Society has organized this important, community-centred festival recognizing that the residents are at the core of our living community.”
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