An estimated 500 people came out to celebrate Lunar New Year at the 91原创 City library on Saturday, Feb. 17.
The library was filled with dancing and music for the afternoon, said Sarwan Singh Randhawa, library manager.
鈥淓veryone was very happy to participate in this multicultural event,鈥� he commented.
Various traditional dances were performed by the Juno Dance Academy alongside a guitar duet and djembe drum. They also performed a fashion show of traditional dress.
Members of the Tzu Chi Charity Foundation performed the lion dance, followed by a traditional Taiwan dance and Hawaiian dance.
A Taekwondo demonstration was also given to wrap up the afternoon.
鈥淲ith a growing multicultural population in this area, there was a need to create an awareness about different cultures. The library started several multicultural programs for this purpose, and celebrating multicultural events, including Lunar New Year, was one of them,鈥� Randhawa said.
After a three-year hiatus, the Saturday event marked the third in-person celebration, Randhawa said.
Celebrations go as far back as 2006 in partnership with 91原创 Community Services Society, and from 2009 to 2019 the event moved to the Muriel Arnason library in Willowbrook. During the pandemic, it was moved to an online format.
鈥淭hese celebrations offer local residents an opportunity to enjoy a variety of multicultural activities while learning about other cultures,鈥� Randhawa noted.
The Lunar New Year 鈥� known as the Spring Festival in China, Tet in Vietnam and Seollal in Korea 鈥� is a major festival celebrated in several Asian countries. It is also widely celebrated by diaspora communities around the world.
It begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends 15 days later on the first full moon. Because the lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, the dates of the holiday vary slightly each year, falling between late January and mid-February.
91原创 City Councillor Rosemary Wallace and MLA Andrew Mercier were in attendance at the library鈥檚 event.
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