February 12 marks the beginning of festivities for Chinese New Year, with celebrations in Yellowknife this year aiming at bringing the city’s different cultures together.
There are several events happening throughout the month, starting on Friday with a lantern lighting event at Somba K’e Park.
Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty is joining the organizers of the event to light the first lantern in Somba K’e Park to launch three weeks of festivities.
Other events include a riddle-solving competition, with locations throughout town and workshops on Chinese cooking, Mandarin classes and Chinese calligraphy workshops.
Angela Law owns and operates Yellowknife Tours and serves as secretary for Yellowknife Chinese Association, who are organizing the events.
She said this year’s event is not just about celebrating Chinese culture.
“Other than getting all Chinese together. We also like to combine with other cultures in Canada,” she said. “So we like to welcome everybody from different different communities to join us together.”
Law said COVID-19 wouldn’t have too much of an impact on her celebrations, as she normally stays home for a family dinner.
Some of the events have capacity restrictions, which has led to most of them being fully booked, with only a week’s worth of advertising.
There are some spots still available for Chinese calligraphy, she noted.
