After a three year hiatus, the City of Langley library is bringing back the Lunar New Year celebration on Saturday, Feb. 17.
This will be the third in-person celebration, explained library manager Sarwan Singh Randhawa.
But celebrations go as far back as 2006 in partnership with Langley Community Services Society, and from 2009 to 2019 the event moved to the Muriel Arnason library in Willowbrook.
It moved to an online format during the pandemic, he said.
“With 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,” Randhawa said.
The Lunar New Year — known as the Spring Festival in China, Tet in Vietnam and Seollal in Korea — 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.
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“These celebrations offer local residents an opportunity to enjoy a variety of multicultural activities while learning about other cultures,” Randhawa commented.
At the library’s event, there will be a Taekwondo demonstration, a calligraphy artist, variety of crafts, and dance performances from Juno Dance Academy and Tzu Chi Charity Foundation.
Traditional dances including the lion dance and Xi Bei Yu will be performed.
Randhawa said the library is looking forward to seeing people of all ages and backgrounds enjoy the festivities, and he encourages the public to wear their own traditional dress to the event.
The Lunar New Year celebration is free and drop-in, and runs from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
Langley City library is located at 20399 Douglas Cres.
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