（By YuLe; Photos by Lingpeng He and more）
With another scorching weekend came up in Vancouver area, more than 25,000 residents had a lot of fun at the 2018 Chinese Cultural Heritage Festival, and were soaked in luck and fortuneand cooled off the Sunday, July 29, at the 10th annual Vancouver Water Splashing Festival, held at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the outdoor family-friendly event celebrated Canadian multiculturalism, celebrated Chinese cultural heritage, and strengthened the cultural and economic relationship between Canada and China.
Supported by the City of Burnaby, the annual festival was organized by the Canadian Community Service Association (CCSA), sponsored by AimForce Development Group, and hosted by the Chinese Construction and Renovation Association of Canada (CCRAC) and HelloButler.com.
At a press conference on July 10, 2018 at Burnaby City Hall, City of Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan officially announced that the Chinese Cultural Heritage Week would run from July 23 to July 29, then he presented the “2018 Chinese Heritage Culture Week” certificate to CCSA President Harris Niu. Along with a formal plaque ceremony on Sunday, the 2018 Chinese Cultural Heritage Festival and the 10thVancouver Water Splashing Festival further enhanced the co-operation between ethnic groups and communities, and promoted the development of Canadian multiculturalism.
Harris Niu, the president of Canada Community Service Association, gave the welcome speech. Premier John Horgan, MP Peter Julian, MLA Katrina Chen,MLA Anne Kang,Mayor Derek Corrigan, Xu Hong, Kirby James, Jeff Jiang, Kenny Gu, Vera Pan, and more honoured guests attended the event and gave important speeches. They all thought highly about this festival, they appreciated the organizing staff, volunteer, performers and participants’ great contribution, and they sent their best wishes to a very successful event.
Activities throughout the day were under five main themes:
• Connecting the Past, featured traditional Chinese games, including hoop rolling, skipping rope, tug-of-war and more;• Folk Artists, unique creations from paper cutting art, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese painting, Chinese traditional opera and more;• Traditional Arts, included seven hours of non-stop live entertainment on the main stage, which includes singing, dancing, poetry, Chinese gongfu and more;• A Taste of China, enticed festival goers with mouth-watering classic Chinese food, available throughout the day;• Water Splashing, capped off the day-long festivities, as attendees got to cool off in the fun-filled tradition of getting soaked in luck and fortune!
There were more than two dozen wading pools set up at the stadium’s edge. As soon as the official water-splashing got underway, many kids, seniors, adults were enjoying the pools, drenching and soaking each other with pails, buckets and water guns. Throwing each other water and in a dash of auspicious fortune in the mix, the goal was to get drenched. The wetter you were, the more luck was showered upon you. Water Splashing Festival was inspired by an important festival celebrated by the Dai people, one of China’s minority tribes, in the southwestern Yunnan province where over a million people participate annually.
Thousands and hundreds of spectators sitting in the sheltered stands were entertained by dance troupes and musical performers. Traditional Chinese dancing and singing; women in traditional qipao or cheongsam dresses; kids dressed in colourful costumes that glittered in the sunlight; people originally from China, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Europe, South or North America and more gave rousing performances. Four emcees, Peter Liu, Bonnie Chen, Richard and Liang Hui hosted the live show in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.
Seemingly oblivious to the heat, groups of young and old people played volleyball in outdoor courts. Nearby, cheers rang out as many people raced against each other in the traditional Chinese hoop-rolling game, skipping rope, tug-of-war and more.
The 4 traditional Culture booths were packed with people, enjoying Chinese calligraphy, Chinese painting, Chinese paper cutting art, Chinese traditional opera, Prize-winning guessing game and more.
Lineups were long in front of the 8 free doctor venues as well as 100ish more other venues.
Another biggest draw at the festival was the classic Chinese food. Thousands and hundreds of people were waiting in lines for Chinese barbecue skewers of lamb, chicken, pork and beef, Chinese crepes, milk tea, cotton candy and more from the food vendors.
Burnaby Fire Department, Burnaby RCMP, Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby School Board, Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations, CCSA Seniors Association, Korean Traditional Arts Society, WS Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society, Chinese Canadian Pen Centre, Canada Chinese Poetry Association and 300ish more organizations participated in this festival and played important roles.
Huge thanks Harris Niu, Pu Xiang, Xu Hong, Jeff Jiang, Kenny Gu, Liu Di, Ma Li, Guo Hong, International Federation of Painting and Calligraphy Development, and each and every of you on the festival organizing committee; Thanks to all the honoured guests, to all the support organizations, to all the performers, to all the media friends, and all the volunteers! Without each and every of you, this festival wouldn't be so successful.
Guest of Honour List for 2018 Chinese Cultural Heritage Festival and the 10thVancouver Water Splashing Festival:Pu Xiang, Founding President, Canada Community Service Association
Niu Hua, President, Canada Community Service Association
Xu Hong, Zhu Shuixing, Yang Zhiping, Executive Presidents, Canada Community Service Association
John Horgan, BC Premier
Tong Xiaoling Ling, Consul General, Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Vancouver
Wang Chengjun, Deputy Consul General, Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Vancouver
Wang Jin, Wang Ning, Shi Chenyong, Consul, Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Vancouver
David Guo and Vera Pan, AimForce Development
Peter Julian, MP for New Westminster—Burnaby
Bruce Ralston, MLA for Surrey-Whalley, BC Minister of Jobs, Trade, and Technology
Katrina Chen, MLA for Burnaby-Lougheed, Minister of State for Child Care
Raj Chouhan, MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds
Anne Kang, MLA for Burnaby-Deer Lake, Parliamentary Secretary for Seniors
Derek Corrigan, Mayor, City of Burnaby
Richard Stewart, Mayor, City of Coquitlam
Paul McDonell, Pietro Calendino, James Wang, Sav Dhaliwal, Councillors, City of Burnaby
Baljinder Narang, Larry Hayes, School Trustees, City of Burnaby
He Zhirong, School Trestee, City of Richmond
Byong G. Suh, Consul, Bulgaria in Vancouver
Al Richmond, FormerChairman for Cariboo Regional
Kirby James, Chairman of the Burnaby Hospital Foundation
James Huang, President, Western Canada Korean Chamber of Commerce
Guo Hong, Co-chairman of the organizing committee, 2018 CCHF and the 10th VWSF
Yu-Han, Representative, International Federation of Painting and Calligraphy Development
Chen Yongtao, Executive Chairman, Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations
Chen Azhong, Vide Executive President, Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations
Wu Junyu, The First Vice Chairman, Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association
Yang Xinglin, Chairman, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Foundation
Wang Bin, Vice Chairman, Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association
Zhu Zhanlun, Honorary Chairman, Vice Chairman, Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association
Wang Yuanlong, Vice Chairman, Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association
...
Organizing Committee for 2018 Chinese Cultural Heritage Festival and the 10thVancouver Water Splashing Festival:Chair: Xu Hong
Executive Chair: Harris Hua Niu
Honorary Chair: Pu Xiang
Co-Chairs: Ma Li, Guo Hong，International Federation of Painting and Calligraphy Development
Chief Coordinator: Jeff Hao Jiang
Chief Planner: Kenny Jungang Gu
General Director: Liu Di
Communication and Media: Sophia Xinyuan Zhang
General Coordinator: Cheng Lu
Programme: Changjun Fu, Mary Sun, Melissa Zhang
Sound and Stage: Fu Changjun
Moderators: Peter Hai Liu, Hui Liang, Bonnie Chen
Back Stage Coordinators: Juan-Zi, Mai-Qi
Booklet: Bingbing Shao
Booth Coordinator: Sheena
Booth Planner: Sun Hang, Guo Rong
Site Coordinator: Da-Bao
Volunteer Coordinator: Da-De
Volunteer Planner: Wan-Long
Logistics Coordinator: Jiang Bo
Game Coordinator: Ran Jun
Transportation Coordinator: A-Qun
Thanks to Media:1. City of Burnaby Website
2. Global News
3. Talentvision TV
4. Fairchild TV
5. Omni Television
6. Canada Wow TV
7. Vancouver Sun
8. Burnaby Now
9. Sing Tao Daily
10. Ming Pao Newspapers
11. Dawa News
12. Global Chinese Press
13. Macao Daily
14. Sohu
15. CCSA Media
16. CCSA Facebook
17. CCSA Twitter
18. CCSA Google+
19. CCSA YouTube
20. Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association website
21. WS Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society website
22. WS Media
23. Columbia Media
24. Dailyhive
25. Lahoo
26. Rise Weekly
27. Herland Weekly
28. BCBay
29. Canada City Post
30. Vanzsnews
31. Mingshengbao
32. The Vancouver Journal
33. Canadian City Post
34. Vancoolver
35. Cbeiji
36. What's in Media Group
37. Fairchild Radio
38. 604City
39. Vansky
40. Craigslist
41. Careerengine
42. Xuehua US
43. Live Stream Vancouver vimeo
44. Sophia Zhang YouTube
45. Tangshao YouTube
46. Kam Oi Cheung YouTube
47. Bailey Yang YouTube
48. Canadian Association of Chinese Photographers
49. White Photographers
50. CCSA Seniors Photographers
51. LiangDeng WeChat Public Account
52. Xie Bosheng WeChat Public Account
53. Shangtianlanyue WeChat Account
54. ...
(Listed in no particular order)
(Photo Credit: He Pengling)