THUNDER BAY — The Thunder Bay Chinese Canadian Association kicked off its 2025 Chinese New Year Celebration at the Da Vinci Centre on Saturday.
Over 200 residents flocked to the event to celebrate the Year of the Snake.
Peng You, the president of the Thunder Bay Chinese Canadian Association, said the annual event was normally a sellout in pre-pandemic years, but since they couldn’t do it during COVID-19, they are "now starting over again."
After selling out at the Delta Hotel last year, the association moved back to its traditional place at the Da Vinci Centre.
“We’ve been here for a long time. So we’re going to do this here again and again and again and then we’re going to have more and more people join us and have lots of fun,” said You.
He explained that the celebration is a big community event the association has been doing for over 40 years.
“This year’s Year of the Snake actually started on Jan. 29th. We celebrate here so we (can) keep the tradition going, bring the community together,” said You.
You said this is also why they are part of a community: to share their culture and have people come together to celebrate and "bring good energy."
“That’s what Thunder Bay is about. That’s why we keep doing that. It’s called (being a) good part of our community and also bring the good luck for our community,” said You.
As an event all about family and getting the family together, similar to Christmas, he said for the New Year, the traditional local lion dance must bring good luck and scare evils away.
He said another very important part of the celebration is food.
“We bring some very traditional food. Like tonight, we have roasted duck, special chicken (and) handmade dumplings. All those (are) symbolic of good luck and for the healthy and wealthy. That’s why we say ‘Xīnnián kuàilè’ Happy New Year and ‘gōng xǐ fā cái’ wish you be wealthy. So, it’s all about good luck,” said You.
You added that life is about health, friendship, happiness and lots of fun, which they tried to do at the celebration, especially in Thunder Bay.
“We are a little bit isolated from large cities. However, we have a very, very multicultural (city in) every corner. That’s why we (are) part of this community and we bring positive energy to celebrate the special moment and special food and be happy,” said You.
He expressed that it’s very important that the message is "life has to be positive."
“We’re always looking forward to what? To better life, so that’s kind of an encouragement. If we ourselves as a person just go very negative and also no more energy Thunder Bay goes nowhere, our country goes nowhere,” said You.
You said they hope this moment will bring lots of positive energy to the community.
