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Thousands pack Vancouver’s Chinatown for Lunar New Year Parade

Vancouver's annual Lunar New Year Parade makes its way down Pender St. Kyle Benning / Global News

Thousands of people packed Vancouver’s Historic Chinatown for the 45th annual Lunar New Year parade on Sunday.

Spectators bundled up for chilly weather, but were treated to sunny skies as they rang in the Year of the Dog.

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The parade, which regularly draws as many as 3,000 participants, featured fire crackers, lion dancers, dragons, floats and a variety of multicultural entries.

The parade kicked off at 11 a.m. at the Millennium Gate near Pender and Abbott, and wound its way to Keefer and Abbot Streets over the course of about two hours.

Politicians of all stripes, including Premier John Horgan, Opposition Leader Andrew Wilkinson and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson turned out to gladhand with the crowds.

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“I think it’s quite great to combine the two cultures, of Canadian culture and Chinese culture. To see the multicultural things is really important here,” one spectator told Global News.

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“I like the different colours, the different culture. It’s just nice to celebrate all of the diversity in the city,” said another.

“I lived in China for a year, and then when I moved here and heard this was going on I had to go. It’s unreal,” said a third.

The Year of the Dog on the Chinese Lunar Calendar began on February 16.

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