The Lunar New Year was celebrated in style in Maple Ridge, with hundreds of students and parents gathering in the Meadowridge School gym on Thursday to participate in a wide range of cultural customs.
Among the performances at the school were a lion dance, dragon dance, martial arts demonstration, face-changing dance, drumming, and much more.
@tiktokwithtucker Meadowridge School was looking very festive on Thursday for their Lunar New Year celebration #lunarnewyear #chinesenewyear #chinese #asian #school #mapleridge #meadowridge #privateschool #culture #culturetiktok #asiantiktok #asianculture #chinesetiktok #chineseculture #lunarnewyear2024 #yearofthedragon ♬ original sound - TheRealTucker
Kids were then treated to a selection of different cultural snacks throughout the day and had even more traditional Chinese performances in the afternoon.
Meadowridge head of school Scott Banack said that the school is proud to have hosted 20 years of its Lunar New Year events.
“It’s truly a remarkable example of the collaborative spirit of Meadowridge School and our community,” said Banack.
“Celebrations like these are a fantastic opportunity to get to learn about different people and different cultures and to celebrate our own cultures.”
READ ALSO: Maple Ridge school searches for clues with hilarious murder mystery
He also said that organizing such a big celebration wouldn’t have been possible without the support of so many local parents.
“There were over 250 parent volunteers supporting the school by decorating, facilitating some of the cultural activities that we experienced, preparing food, and generously donating gifts,” said Banack. “It was an absolutely amazing accomplishment to have so many people in our community come together.”
Lucy Wu was one of these 250 parent volunteers, and as lead coordinator of the school’s Lunar New Year events for five years now, she said she can truly appreciate how much the event has evolved in the past two decades.
“When they first started, it was just a paper lion head and very simple because they couldn’t get any materials out of the market at that time,” said Wu. “But now, we have 100 lanterns all over, we have dragons, so it’s come a long way.”
She explained that having these different cultural celebrations at the school is such an important thing for both the kids and the parents.
“We have a bigger and bigger Chinese community and we want to feel this is home,” said Wu. “It’s important not only for the people who have our culture but for others too. This year, we have Korean families and Indian families join us, which is fantastic.”
READ ALSO: Westview wades into Willy Wonka’s wacky world of wonders
Lunar New Year is celebrated by many Asian cultures, including Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and more.
It is a 15-day celebration to mark the beginning of spring and the start of a new year on the lunisolar calendar, making it one of the most important holidays in China.
Every Lunar New Year will be represented by one of the 12 zodiac animals, with 2024 being the year of the dragon.