Weekend Adventures - The Taiwanese Lantern Festival

I often catch the whispers of parents around the Valley and Campbell River that the one thing they miss about former lives in bigger cities is the access to all kinds of culture.

Life on the island can feel very isolating.

I know that when we first moved here I was more than a little overwhelmed by the loss of simple things like a long list of ethnic goods and the wide-ranging mix of races, languages and cultural traditions that permeated our lives in Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco.

Much like finding trails we love, hot spots to hang out at and friends to connect with, discovering the vibrant slices of culture - scaled down by the simple realities of living in a small town - has revealed, in the end, that a fair bit of all of the things we missed lives right here. It’s just a bit more subtle.

One of those vibrant slices is the annual Taiwanese Lantern Festival, hosted by the village of Cumberland, which kicks off on Saturday at the Cumberland Recreation Hall.

This event, a great partnership between Cumberland and the Taiwanese-Canadian Cultural Society of Vancouver, draws one heck of a crowd to the tiny village (something north of 20,000).

If you are looking for something great to do with the family this weekend, kick it all off by jumping in for the Lantern Festival foot parade at 7 p.m. Saturday (March 29) evening. Start at First and Dunsmuir and wander fown to the Village Park for Taiwanese dancing and fire spinning as well as a release of sky lanterns and fireworks (COOL!)

I’m totally stoked to check out the new Taiwanese market full of Taiwanese hand-made goods as well as the food booths (yum).

There’s also going to be great stuff like a glass art demo from artist Ang-fu Huang, a Taishan Barbie exhibit and all kinds of great specials going on at Cumberland restaurants and businesses all week.

Just a bit on the lanterns: they are all hand-made (which is just incredible once you see them) lit up by thousands of tiny bulbs that make the display look like a dream world of colour, design and energy. There are some super cool creatures and gorgeous flowers as well as very traditional symbols of Taiwanese culture.

We took the tiny person last year (it takes about 30-45 minutes to make it through the display) and she thought it was AMAZING, ooooing and ahhhhing over the lights, animals and major toddler wow factor.

For artists in training, this is a great way to start into lessons on folk art from different cultures. You can even plug your older kiddos into making their own lanterns with wire, cloth and other techniques (talk with some of the artists who are on hand. They are wonderful).

If you’ve never checked out the festival, hit it! The lantern display, market and food vendors are at Cumberland Rec from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day (starting Saturday) until April 6.