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Hundreds ring in the lunar new year at annual Spring Festival in Surrey

Sixth-annual Spring Festival Charity Gala delivers everything from comedy to opera

Hundreds attended the Fraser Valley Chinese Culture Association鈥檚 sixth-annual Spring Festival Charity Gala on Saturday, Jan. 27, ringing in the lunar new year with family and friends.

The Spring Festival celebrates the end of the old lunar year and the beginning of the new year, and it is widely observed, with festivals hosted annually by Chinese communities all around the world.

The 1,500-seat Chandos Pattinson Auditorium was packed on Saturday night as festival goers took in the annual gala鈥檚 blend of formal and informal performances.

From children dancing to modern pop music to delicate chords plucked on the guzheng, a string instrument with more than 2,500 years of history, the evening offered all manner of spectacle and sound. Charismatic youth portrayed philosophers in comic asides, rock 鈥榥鈥 roll acts got the crowd moving, dance ensembles dressed in delicate, ornate outfits performed detailed and artful choreography: each of the 19 acts offered something unique.

Organizer Qing Ping said that the evening was the largest Spring Festival celebration planned for this year in Surrey, and that it took four months of work to get it to the stage. The volunteer-organized show was led by Director Dong Yang, who was the creative vision behind the gala.

As every year, several prizes were given away, including an electric guitar, a Huawei smartphone and an iPhone X, and small stuffed dogs were thrown into the audience throughout the evening in a nod to the Year of the Dog.

The charity gala once again donated a large portion of its ticket proceeds to local initiatives. This year, the FVCCA donated $2,000 to the Surrey Memorial Hospital. A further $1,000, raised by the student-led organization , was given to the , which provides help and support for Vancouver鈥檚 homeless youth.



editor@cloverdalereporter.com

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The Fraser Dancing Group perform 鈥淒runken Miao Village.鈥 (Sam Anderson)
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A musician plays a pipa, a four-stringed lute. Behind her, another musician plays the guzheng. (Sam Anderson)
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Neighbourhood Band performed two rock 鈥榥鈥 roll songs, 鈥淲aving Hand鈥 and 鈥淣owhere to Hide.鈥 (Sam Anderson)
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Maxwell Holmes receives several bouquets of flowers after his piano performance. (Sam Anderson)
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Joe Shen performs 鈥淭hose Flowers鈥 with acoustic guitar and a children鈥檚 choir accompanying. (Sam Anderson)
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The evening鈥檚 hosts broke from their duties as MCs to perform a dramatic rendition of 鈥淭he Shanghai Bund.鈥 (Sam Anderson)
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Kristy Zhao and the Canada Melody Dancing and Modeling Association perform 鈥淟ove and Passion鈥 at the 2018 FVCCA Spring Festival Charity Gala. (Sam Anderson)
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Dancers perform 鈥淟egend of the Wolf鈥 at the 2018 Spring Festival Gala. (Sam Anderson)