February 26^th, 2021

The 9^th Toronto-Qinhuai Lantern Festival was held on February 26^th, 2021 at Bond Academy, which has been the venue sponsor of the event since 2013. Eleven sets of large handmade lanterns were on display and the ceiling of the front foyer and the hallway was decorated with lotus lanterns and colorful ribbons. Due to the pandemic, only Bond staff and students were allowed to see the display onsite, and the public watched the exhibition online. Bond students and staff also participated in the traditional festival activity such as writing New Year wishes and guessing riddles. 

Lantern Festival is a Chinese traditional festival falling on the final day of the 15-day Lunar New Year celebrations. This year it falls on the 26th of February. As part of the Bond tradition, lanterns were on display to celebrate this occasion. Due to COVID-19, it was on a much smaller scale and there were no interactive cultural events. To ensure health and safety, the Lantern Festival was held under the school’s strict COVID Protocols. All participants were limited to school staff, students and parents who were picking up child. To ensure health and safety, all participants in the activities were limited to school staff and students. The Lantern Festival was held under the school’s strict COVID-19 Safety Protocols.

On the day of the Lantern Festival, 11 sets of large handmade lanterns shaped in Ox, Golden Fish, Phoenix, Elephant, Crane, the God of Wealth, Money Tree and Flower Basket were on exhibition at the main entrance, front foyer, and the hallway with cultural notes.

The ceiling of the front foyer and the hallway was decorated with lotus lanterns and colorful ribbons. The students and staff were dressed in red, adding a happy holiday vibe to the campus.  

In the classrooms, teachers explained the origin of the Chinese zodiac and the cultural meaning of the Year of the Ox. The students used the crayons to color the dancing Ox. Elementary students wrote down their New Year wishes on colorful, ox-head-shaped post-its and taped them on the Wishing Wall (Xu Yuan Qiang). During recess, teachers led the students to the exhibition and carefully explained to them the cultural knowledge and meaning about the lanterns. Students, their parents, and teachers/staff were encouraged to participate in the "Lunar New Year Riddle Contest" via Bond App. Participants who submitted their answers received ox lanterns on March 1^st.

Students from Grade 6 class (who were born in the Year of the Ox) also received the Ox lanterns as a present to mark their big year, Ben Ming Nian. The 9th Toronto-Qinhuai Lantern Festival offline celebrations ended with students from Bond Academy taking photos with the lantern of “Shepherd Boy on Ox Back Playing the Flute”. The online celebrations ended with the audiences taking screenshots with the shared picture of the same lantern. A unique and unforgettable Lantern Festival during the pandemic!