Montreal's Chinatown is gearing up to welcome the Lunar New Year – Montreal

Organizers in Montreal's Chinatown are gearing up for Lunar New Year celebrations this weekend, which they expect to be the biggest the city has ever seen.

Many activities are planned among the city's Asian communities and will be centered on Chinatown, where the three-day festival is taking place. There were some events on Friday afternoon, but the big day is Saturday.

“A parade,” beamed festival organizer YiFang Eva Hu. “From René-Lévesque to Viger, Clark Street has a lion dance, a dragon dance and many other exciting performances for kids, families and everyone to enjoy.

“On Sunday, you'll see Chinese opera, Vietnamese traditional instruments, singing and dancing by one of our superstars from Taiwan.”

The three-day festival also has indoor events, but Winston Chan says private celebrations for families last for weeks and much of it revolves around food.

“Every new lunar year, it's a celebration where all the family members gather around a meal with many, many dishes,” he told Global News, adding that each dish, like soy noodles, has significance in the path to success and prosperity. example.

“So the noodles mean longevity because of the length of the noodles,” he laughed.

The Lunar New Year, which begins on Saturday, will be the Year of the Dragon. Jimmy Chan of the Montreal Chan Lions Dance Club says the mythical creature represents many things.

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“Unity, but also prosperity, health and, most importantly, happiness,” he explained.

This is the festival's second year, and Hu says they want to use it to bring together the richness of the diversity of Asian communities that have come to the city at different times.

“Just like the Cambodians, the Chinese were to the Vietnamese during the war and then to the people of Hong Kong when Hong Kong returned to China,” he said.

According to him, this is not only a matter of unity, but also keeping traditions for his children.

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