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More than 100K people expected at Vancouver Lunar New Year celebrations

Participants march down Pender Street as a part of Vancouver's Chinese New Year Parade. Simon Little / Global News

It’s officially the Year of the Dog on the Chinese Lunar Calendar, and Vancouver is gearing up for the crowds.

The city’s annual Chinese New Year Parade is returning for its 45th year on Sunday, and is expected to include more than 3,000 participants. Organizers say they’re preparing for more than 100,000 spectators.

The parade kicks off at 11 a.m. at the Millennium gate in Historic Chinatown. Simon Little / Global News
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The festival includes lion dances, cultural dance troupes, marching bands, martial artists and other performers.

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But chief parade coordinator and vice president of the Vancouver Chinese Benevolent Association Jun Ing says while the parade is rooted in Chinese culture, it also has its own particular multicultural Vancouver flavour.

“Our goal for the past 15-plus years [has been] to make it more and more multicultural and make it more relevant for all segments of our society,” Ing said.
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“We’re going to see the traditional fire crackers, the dragons, the lions and, you know, the dance troupes. But this year, I think we’re going to have more participation from the South Asian community.”

Organizers say they are trying to incorporate more multicultural elements into the parade to reflect Vancouver’s diversity. Simon Little / Global News

The parade kicks off at 11 a.m. at the Millennium Gate on Pender Street in Vancouver’s Historic Chinatown, and follows a 1.3 kilometre route, ending at the intersection of Keefer and Abbott Streets about two hours later.

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