Asian Culture Festivals in Canada: Celebrations of Asian Traditions

Asian Traditions: Celebrating the Lunar New Year in Canada

Lunar New Year (also called Spring Festival, Chinese New Year, Tet for Vietnamese-Canadians or Solnal for Koreans) is a holiday celebrated in Canada and many other countries.

It is a very lively holiday for Canada's Chinese community, which is also celebrated by Canadians from Vietnam, Korea and Southeast Asia. Although this event is not considered a public holiday in Canada, several Chinese business centers still decide to close their doors for the duration of the celebration. Others will just reduce their working hours for the occasion. Since 1er June 2016, Lunar New Year is recognized as an official holiday in Canada.

What is Lunar New Year?

The Lunar New Year is celebrated on the same date every year. This event marks the first day of the New Year calendar, which has been around much longer than the Gregorian calendar used in everyday life today.

The Chinese calendar is called “lunisolar”. It is established from astronomical observations of the longitude of the sun and the phases of the moon. The start of the Lunar New Year is determined based on the new moon that will be closest to the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, or Lìchūn.

Generally speaking, the Chinese lunar year always begins between January 21 and February 21. Most of the time, Chinese New Year begins around 11 days before the previous year's date. On the other hand, if the date is not between January 21 and February 21, an intercalary month is added and the Lunar New Year is postponed to the 18th or 19th day.

Lunar New Year celebrations and traditions

The Lunar New Year is a time when the Chinese community will share food with those in need and participate in various charitable activities. The celebrations last several days and are characterized by numerous shows such as:

• Dance :
• Drums;
• Fireworks.

Participants will also highlight many specificities of Chinese culture: traditional dresses, tastings of special dishes and arts and crafts activities. The celebrations are notably marked by the parades of the famous lion dancers. This is an essential activity of Chinese festivals. This dance, which varies depending on the region of China, is very vigorous. The lion will notably make numerous feline expressions such as roaring, agitating, moving around by moving its head or stopping to scratch. Lion dancers are indeed experts who master their complex choreography to perfection.

You should know that each year of the Chinese lunar calendar is associated with one of the 12 animals of the Chinese horoscope. Each animal has its own special characteristics. For example, the rabbit is known to be talented and affectionate, but also very shy. He works collaboratively with other individuals and is successful in business. The dragon is very stubborn. However, he has a tender heart and a passionate side. The dragon is said to be healthy and full of energy.

The importance of the Lunar New Year in Canada

Since 1997, Canada Post has produced stamps bearing the astrological sign of the current year. In addition, the Lunar New Year has a public character in Canada. Like Christmas or Hanukkah, this celebration is highlighted each year by the Canadian Prime Minister, who offers his best wishes to all Chinese-Canadians for the occasion.

Asian traditions: Accès Asia Festival

Presentation of the event

The Accès Asia Festival is a celebration created in 1995 in Montreal. Its aim is to present the approaches and works of creators from Asia and its diaspora. More than 20 countries are represented during this festival: East Asia (Japan, China, Korea), South-East Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore), Asia South (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka), Central Asia and the Middle East (Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Armenia).

This celebration takes place every year in May, and it corresponds to Asian Heritage Month in Canada. This festival focuses on increasing the visibility and experiences of Asian artists, through multiple artistic disciplines. We find in particular:

• Visual arts ;

• Theater ;

• Dance ;

• The movie theater ;

• Literature ;

• The music ;

• New media;

• The performance ;

• Culinary arts.

The Accès Asia Festival is administered by Foreign Ghosts Society Inc., and is governed by a steering committee. Since 2012, the general and artistic director of the festival has been Khosro Berahmandi. This one is a painter from Iran. He succeeds Janet Lumb, a saxophonist.

Asian Heritage Month corresponds to the major event of the festival. The latter is organized in May and generally lasts three weeks. The festival offers a wide range of diverse events, both in terms of artistic disciplines and the origins of the artists presented each year.

During the 2014 edition, the Accès Asia Festival notably organized a raqs sharqi competition, during which twelve amateur and semi-professional level dancers performed in front of a jury of three professionals.

The festival is also present at the Culture Days which take place at the end of September for three days, since 1997. The founding organization of this event is “Culture for All”. Each year, “Culture for All” mobilizes other cultural organizations to offer the public numerous free workshops.

The celebration for the year 2023

For the 2023 edition, the Accès Asia Festival took place between May 5 and 29. For another year, he celebrated Asian arts and cultures in Montreal. The festive program was also presented during Asian Heritage Month in Canada.

The 28e edition of the festival allowed participants to enjoy an edition rich in discoveries: dance, visual arts, music, theater and culinary art. In total, visitors took advantage of nearly 19 events which took place in Montreal venues, as well as online.

To take advantage of the festivities, an Opening Cocktail was organized on May 5 at the Conseil des arts de Montréal. This Opening Cocktail was notably marked by entertainment from established artists such as: the actress Chloé Barshee, the multidisciplinary artist Moe Clark and the circus artist Trinh Tra My.

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