The Lantern Festival, a traditional yearly holiday originating from China, was held worldwide on February 12, marking the end of Lunar New Year. Accordingly, celebrations were held in the Kelowna Parkinson Recreation Centre for the community on February 9 by the Okanagan Chinese Cultural Association (OCCA), and I attended with my partner, Amber.
We arrived some thirty-or-so minutes early at 3:30 pm, and already the environment was alive with the hurry and controlled panic of what felt like one hundred volunteers scurrying about the hall. After checking in and being given a red envelope filled with tickets (most items in the hall that evening were bought and sold via blue tickets — each ticket was worth $1), we began to look around the festivities being set up. To the left of the room were a series of folding tables with around a dozen organizations beginning to set up their stands, selling their wares. In the center and rear of the room, about seven rows of folding chairs were placed, with the back of the room hemming in the scene with several tables for staff and event sponsors. To the right, cultural tables were set up, handing out hand-made gyozas and bubble teas for a handful of tickets apiece.
There was also a section for writing well wishes for the new year onto red paper. I had never written a word of Chinese in my life, though Amber was much more adept at it (probably a good thing, on account of her life-long experience), and we wrote some well-wishes that now hang on my bedroom door. After finishing my first writing in Chinese, to which the old man operating the stand seemed less insulted than I’d expected, I began to walk around and take interviews from the various organizers of the event. Amber, meanwhile, did the same, though was eventually caught up in a Filipino traditional counting game, which occupied her for much of the night.
The event we were attending, as hosted by OCCA, was being held for the 14th time, and according to most who had worked on the event for several years found that it was their best turnout in years. By some estimates, over one thousand had attended the event, and the pervasively lively din of the convention hall made that statistic fully believable. The staff I spoke with at the event were all very friendly, and some of them had been brought in directly from the nearby Okanagan College to volunteer.
One of the more eventful interactions I had was with Kelowna City Councillor, Maxine DeHart, on her remarks that evening:
Maxine Dehart:
So what I’d said was that this city thrives on diversity. This year’s theme is “Bridging cultures, building connections,” and I said it was a powerful reminder of what makes Kelowna so special. We’re a community that welcomes, embraces, and celebrates one-another. I really think this is all really just wonderful. I’ve been to this event for many many years that the OCCA has put on — I mean look around! I think a thousand people are going to come today.
Quinlin Osadczuk:
I’ve been told that’s the number, yes.
MD:
Yes, and you know what, it’s just a wonderful event for the community to come to — all ages, really diverse, and what more can I say? Look at the event, look at this around you, it’s just fantastic.
[End interview.]
That exchange was taken at the beginning of the event, though I later spoke with the leader and organizer of the lion-dancers towards the end of the event as well — he had apparently been a part of a “Chinese freemason in Kelowna,” working with them to share and “pass on [his] culture … so the next generation can carry on.” He had visited around a dozen schools this year alone, and still plans to visit another three before the year is out. As one of the lead organizers, I found him deeply and uniquely inspired. I had meant to see him before I left that night to give my thanks, though he was gone by then. The next week, while looking at books in the local mall for Valentine’s Day with Amber, we saw him leading a crowd dressed traditionally, on the way to another event. It brought me a smile.
This ceremony was perhaps one of the most lively, thoroughly enjoyable events that I’d attended in Kelowna in all my years here. By the end of the night much of the crowd had cleared out, and the organizers of the event got onto the stage and sang a heartfelt Chinese ballad. For my first introduction to the Lantern Festival, it was a truly unforgettable experience.
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