"Beautiful Lanterns!" "Wonderful Event!" "Really Unique!" "This is the night you won’t forget!"......
On March 3rd, the 2018 Toronto-Qinhuai Lantern Festival Light-up Celebration took place at 1500 Birchmount Road in the Year of the Dog. Over 1500 residents from 30 cities at / around the Greater Toronto Area gathered together to celebrate this Chinese traditional festival.
Co-organized by Ontario-Jiangsu Friendship Association (OJFA) and Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Exchange Association, and special supported by Jiangsu Provincial Oversea Chinese Affairs, the 2018 Toronto-Qinhuai Lantern Festival Light-up Celebration officially started around 6:15 pm on Saturday at Bond Education Group, the venue sponsor. In front of a group of giant Qinhuai Palace Lanterns, the VIP guests lightened up all the colorful lanterns and woke up the golden and silver lions by drawing their eyes. With Lion Dance delighting the celebration, the VIP guests sent their best wishes to everyone.
Hundreds of red lanterns and handmade Qinhuai lanterns in the shape of water lilies, rabbits, dragonflies, crabs... were hanging from the ceiling on-site. With the theme of Canada-China Year of Tourism 2018, the Sixth Toronto-Qinhuai Lantern Festival had some creative designs, such as the Wishing Wall, Three best friends, Jiangsu scenery photo gallery, Guarding Lions, Longevity, the Wall of lucky red envelops, the Pond in the spring, Experiencing Chinese traditional culture and so many more.
Everyone had a great time. Some visitors took pictures with the Qinhuai Lanterns shaped like a Phoenix, Dragon, Crane, Elephant... others enjoyed the family fun games with their children, such as Chinese and English riddles, ring toss, archery, chopsticks fishing, pin the nose and more. In the cafeteria, people lined up early to have the tasty Qinhuai style food, including: Yuan Xiao, Nanjing Salted Duck, Pork Joint Stewed with Rock Sugar, Smoked Fish, Five Fragrance Egg, Steamed Taro with Sugar, Osmanthus Rice Cake, and etc.
Dr. Julia Li, the President of OJFA, mentioned Toronto-Qinhuai Lantern Festival has been a showcase to not only promote Chinese culture but also invite local residents to get involved and experience the beauty of traditional art, cultural and heritage activities. She welcomed everyone to enjoy Lantern Festival together, and expressed her appreciation to the support from both countries' governments, all the volunteers' creativities, great efforts and hard work to make the Sixth Toronto-Qinhuai Lantern Festival a big success.
As the representative of Toronto-Qinhuai Lantern Festival committee, Dr. Charlotte Ge expressed sincere thank-you to people who sent congratulatory letters and attended this celebration event, including: Premier Minster Justin Trudeau, Consul General of The Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Toronto He Wei, MP Salma Zahid, MP Shaun Chen, MP Tan Geng, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Mayor of Toronto John Tory, Minister of Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Exchange Association Wang Hua, Consul of The Consulate General of P.R.C Liu Jiangbo, Vice-Consul of The Consulate General of P.R.C Ji Peng, MPP Soon Wong, President of Jiangsu International Business Association of Canada Howard Shen, Chair of Levant Settlement Centre Aris Babikian, President of The Cross-Cultural Community Services Association Nelson Cheng, Assistant Branch Manager of RBC Royal Bank Christopher Chan, Principal of Bond International College Jeffrey Farber, Principal of Bond Academy John Healey.
The Committee thanks all the dedicated contribution and support from the communities, media, Bond staff and student volunteers as well as different universities’ alumni. May the Seventh Toronto-Qinhuai Lantern Festival will be greater and more attractive in 2019!
Dr. Julia Li, President of Ontario-Jiangsu Friendship Association, Event Committee Chair; MP Shaun Chen, MP Tan Geng; Consul Liu Jiangbo and Vice-Consul Ji Peng of The Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Toront; MPP Soon Wong; Howard Shen, President of Jiangsu International Business Association of Canada; Aris Babikian, Chair of Levant Settlement Centre; Nelson Cheng, President of The Cross-Cultural Community Services Association; Christopher Chan, Representative of RBC Royal Bank, Jeffrey Farber and John Healey, Principals of Bond Academy; attended the Lights-up celebration of 2018-The 6th Toronto Qinhuai Lantern Festival on March 3rd, 2018. From right to left: Dr. Julia Li, Christopher Chan, MPP Soon Wong, John Healey, MP Shaun Chen, MP Geng Tan and his wife; Aris Babikian, Howard Shen, and Nelson Cheng.
VIP guests and all visitors celebrated together by enjoying the lantern show and watching the lion dance at the indoor exhibition.
Visitors with different backgrounds also came to enjoy the festival, and liked the delicious Qinhuai style cuisine.
About 200 visitors wrote down their best wishes for the new year on the maple leaf shape and heart shape paper, and put them up on the Wishing Wall (Left); Children enjoyed one of the traditions of Qinhuai Lantern Festival - arts and crafts of lanterns (Right).
Christine and her husband took her 96-year-old mother along with their three children for a special visit to Toronto-Qinhuai Lantern Festival in the morning of March 4th.