7,000 attend Chinese New Year Sky Lantern Release at Spanish Banks (PHOTOS & VIDEOS)
An estimated 7,000 people were in attendance at Friday night’s Chinese New Year Sky Lantern Release event at Vancouver’s Spanish Banks.
The event ‘officially’ began at 7 p.m. and spanned along the entire length of a 1 kilometre beach area. Attendees of all ages, including many families and children, turned out for the organically organized festival which first began as a Facebook event.
Temperatures dipped to -4°C during what one participant termed as “a really fun, upbeat, light-hearted, and family-friendly event.”
Numerous individuals were on-site selling lanterns for between $1.00 to $5.00 each, while some even gave lanterns out for free. While such events usually involve the mass release of lanterns, participants released their lanterns one by one whenever they were ready to launch. Some also wrote messages of hope on the lanterns and made wishes as it floated away.
The traditional practice of launching small ‘hot air balloon’ lanterns date back more than 2,000 years in Chinese history, and it is currently celebrated in many regions of Asia to conclude the 15-day period of Chinese New Year festivities.
One individual who arrived to the beach early and left late believes at least 600 lanterns were released throughout a 2-hour span beginning at 7 p.m.
The biodegradable lanterns floated south and southeast to an altitude of approximately 300-metres, over a distance of between 2 to 4 kilometres for 10 to 20-minutes before descending to the ground.
Throughout the evening, heavy congestion was seen along Northwest Marine Drive from UBC’s Acadia Road to Trimble Street. Revellers celebrated peacefully and no incidents were reported, although firefighters were seen at the beach on standby for any potential accidents. There were no fires given the cold, damp winter conditions.
A group of participants and some local neighbourhood residents helped with the clean-up the following morning. The highly attended and trouble-free event was completely organic, which is rare for a red tape city like Vancouver that prefers ‘highly controlled’ events – except for the weekly protests, of course.
Organic and citizen-driven events are highly common throughout Europe, Asia, South America and even Montreal.
Timelapse
Videos
Photos
Image: Shun Lee
Image: Shun Lee
Image: stevenc1981
Image: stevenc1981
Image: stevenc1981
Image: Simply Rose Photography
Image: stevenc1981
Image: Stephanie Wiriahardja
Image: Stephanie Wiriahardja
Image: Stephanie Wiriahardja
Image: Stephanie Wiriahardja
Image: Stephanie Wiriahardja
Image: Stephanie Wiriahardja
Image: Stephanie Wiriahardja
Image: stevenc1981
Image: Elaine Tseng
Image: Elaine Tseng
Image: Elaine Tseng
Image: Elaine Tseng
Image: Emma Choo
Image: Emma Choo
Image: Emma Choo
Image: Emma Choo
Image: stevenc1981
Image: stevenc1981
Image: stevenc1981
Image: stevenc1981
Image: stevenc1981
Image: stevenc1981
Image: stevenc1981
Image: stevenc1981
Image: stevenc1981
Image: stevenc1981
Image: stevenc1981
Image: stevenc1981
Image: Simply Rose Photography
Image: Simply Rose Photography
Image: Simply Rose Photography
Image: Simply Rose Photography
Image: Simply Rose Photography
Image: Simply Rose Photography
Image: Simply Rose Photography
Image: Simply Rose Photography
Image: Simply Rose Photography
Image: Simply Rose Photography
Image: The Glass Eye
Image: The Glass Eye
Image: The Glass Eye
Image: The Glass Eye
If you have missed #Vancouver #LanternFestival at Spanish Banks, here are the video + Photos. http://t.co/PqaO0v1AUT pic.twitter.com/wdZ9OuMSnm
— Wayne Lam (@FantasyWedding8) February 9, 2014
#Lantern release for #ChineseNewYear at #Vancouver‘s Spanish Banks tonight. Beautiful #LanternFestival. @TourismBC pic.twitter.com/F8q28Yf2kV
— SYinc (@SYincTravel) February 8, 2014
Rushed down to Spanish Banks this evening . Lanterns everywhere! pic.twitter.com/MUMXwwMmVd
— Leanne Zmud (@leannezmud) February 8, 2014
At the beach for a massive lantern festival. Literal thousands of lanterns in the air (at Spanish Banks) pic.twitter.com/NsKlMtqHrH
— John Biehler (@JohnBiehler) February 8, 2014