Remembrance Day, Diwali and other celebrations adapt to unusual fall and winter - Action News
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Remembrance Day, Diwali and other celebrations adapt to unusual fall and winter

Some Metro Vancouver celebrations and events are taking a holiday this year, others will look very different because 2020.

Diwali Fest goes online, crowds told to avoid Remembrance Day ceremony at Vancouver's Victory Square

Diwali Fest performers in 2014. To avoid adding to the spread of the coronavirus, Diwali Fest has moved its 2020 festivities online. Other fall and winter events in Metro Vancouver are still going ahead in a modified way, but some have been called off. (Maryse Zeidler/CBC)

Some familiar fall and winter events in Metro Vancouver will look very unfamiliar in 2020, organizers say.

COVID-19 case numbers are rising in B.C. and across Canada and adaptations or in some cases, cancellations are in the works for some events that normally would see hundreds or thousands of people attending.

Diwali, the celebration of light observed by Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities, is one example.

Diwali Fest board director Kriti Dewan said after months of weighing options, organizers decided pandemic safety was best achieved by moving festivities online.

A fashion show was part of the 2016 Diwali Fest at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Vancouver. (Diwali Fest/Twitter)

"It makes more sense," Dewan said. "We have a lot of grandparents coming to our events and these are the people we really need to protect. We're happy to switch to a digital form."

Dewan said normallyabout 500 to 700 people would attend celebrations in Surrey and another 3,500 to 7,000 would attend the main event in Vancouver. Attendees enjoy food, music and dance performances, art workshops and sometimes fireworks.

Now, festivities are moving online with offerings like music and dance videos, children's stories and virtual painting workshops.

"I'm so pleased our artists and partners have really stepped up," Dewan said. "It's been a very interesting and challenging year."

A chute descends from the top floor of a single-family house in Vancouver during Halloween.
Halloween fans both trick-or-treaters and those who supply tricks and/or treats have made changes to comply with pandemic safety guidelines, such as this house with a candy chute. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

'We just don't want any further risks'

Vancouver's Remembrance Day at Victory Square will proceed on Nov. 11 but will look like no other, said director of ceremonies Cam Cathcart.

Cathcart said the programme will be abbreviated. There will be no parade. There will be no vigil guard or colour party and fewer wreaths will be laid.

Remembrance Day at Victory Square director of ceremonies Cam Cathcart said he expects British Columbians will want to observe Remembrance Day but urged them not to do so at Victory Square this year. (Martin Diotte/CBC)

There will be a choir and band as in previous years, but they will be joining the event remotely via video feed.

Cathcart said people should not come to Victory Square and instead take in the ceremonies through live streaming.

"We just don't want any further risks with large gatherings," Cathcart said. "We hope that next year, we'll have a special Remembrance Day which will be memorable as they have [been] in the past."

Light displays

Heading into December and the Christmas season, some holiday events have been called off but others are still going ahead with modifications.

The Vancouver Christmas Market was cancelled earlier in October, and on Tuesday, the City of Coquitlam cancelled the 2020 Lights at Lafarge display.

The Vancouver Christmas Market as seen in 2019. The market has been called off this year. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)

In North Vancouver, the Capilano Suspension Bridge, which is presently closed, will reopen on Dec. 1 for its Canyon Lights display. The Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove is opening a holiday lights display Nov. 18, and Vancouver's VanDusen Botanical Garden will hold its annual Festival of Light beginning Nov. 27.

All events will have various safety protocols such as physical distancing and contact tracing in place.

With files from Belle Puri