One of Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhoods will be bursting with excitement this weekend. RBC will present the fifth annual Light Up Chinatown!, which will transform the 500 block of Columbia Street into a zone full of food and entertainment treats.
On Saturday (August 16), the Odlum Brown Main Stage will feature music, dance, and circus performing arts. One of the highlights will be Silk Road Music, which creates a unique sound by blending Chinese and Western instruments. This ensemble will perform at 1 p.m. Next up will be Colours of Dance Academy at 2 p.m., followed by Shannon Chung & Dennis Lew at 3 p.m., and Circus West Performing Arts Society at 4 p.m.
The evening will be devoted to music, starting with well-known national anthem singer Marie Hui. When she’s not singing “O Canada” at Vancouver Whitecaps games, she handles vocals and percussion with LeftCoast, a five-piece band that performs old-school funk and jazz. Hui will be on-stage at 5 p.m. The rest of the evening will feature Fara R&B at 6:30 p.m., Lean the Band at 7:30 p.m., and DJ May Q Move at 8 p.m.
Four musical acts will perform on Sunday: ARS Madrigal Group, Dane Sung, the Phonix Band, and Best Night Ever Band. In addition, festivalgoers can take in Le Plaisir Dance Society, Jin Wah Sing Cantonese Opera, and the breakdancing Now or Never Crew.
Light Up Chinatown! will also include limited-edition food collaborations. For instance, Beaucoup Bakery and Chinatown BBQ will join forces on The Golden Rooster Croissant. It looks like a pastry that you would find at the popular Fairview bakery. However, it also includes soy-marinated chicken, ginger-scallion sauce, and sweet soy BBQ glaze. It will be available at Chinatown BBQ from 2 p.m. on Saturday until it’s sold out.
Asian street food at Hawkers Lane
If that’s not your thing, you could always try the White Rabbit Mochi Nest, which is a collab between Foo Hung Curios and Daan Go Cake Lab. This pastry comes with soft milk mochi and silky mascarpone flan, topped with a White Rabbit Cream and an edible White Rabbit candy wrapper. It’s available at Foo Hung Curios from 2 p.m. on Saturday until there are no more left.
The third tag-team dish will be created by Juke Fried Chicken and Say Hey Café. The Spicy Fried Chicken Hoagie offers up cherry tomato, basil, red onion salad, and parm shallots and a fried chicken thigh, all draped in Lao Gan Ma. It’s available at Juke Fried Chicken from 11 a.m. on Saturday until all the hoagies are sold out.
That’s not all. Light Up Chinatown! will also present Hawkers Lane Street Food. Here, seven restaurants will offer the types of treats that wouldn’t seem out of place in busy night markets in Asia. Plus, there is a Kids Zone, as well as interactive workshops at the Chinatown Storytelling Centre.
The festival aims to support the local economy. One way is through its Passport Program. This enables attendees to collect stamps from Chinatown businesses to win prizes.
Organizers have placed a premium on safety for anyone who heads to the area for the celebrations.
“The Vancouver Police Department is providing additional foot patrol officers around the neighbourhood, and there will be increased security measures in and around the festival grounds, emphasizing a shared commitment to creating a safe, inclusive environment for everyone,” the festival stated in a news release.
To learn more about Light Up Chinatown!, visit lightupchinatown.ca. Follow Pancouver on Instagram @PancouverMedia and on Bluesky @pancouver.
