The Water Splashing Festival might sound unfamiliar to some Richmondites.
But for Harris Niu - a long-term Richmond resident, who has been organizing this event for the past 10 years – it’s a “great way to bring everyone together.”
The event involves people drenching each other with buckets of water or “fighting” each other with water guns until they’re empty.
“The act of pouring water symbolizes fortune, blessings and good wishes, and it’s believed that bad luck would be driven away by pouring water over one another,” explained Niu, president of the Canadian Community Services Association (CCSA) and the event organizer.
The event has been held across Metro Vancouver in the last week of July since 2009.
The festival is an important event, celebrated by the Dai people, one of the 55 ethnic minorities in China, who hail from the Yunnan province, where over a million people participate in the event each year.
Niu said that the idea originated from discussions with other members of CCSA.
“This festival is a win-win situation for each participant - we could save (each other) from heatstroke in summer and soak in some luck at the same time,” said Niu.
The first annual festival took at Stanley Park in 2009, then moved to King George Park in Richmond in 2010 for several years.
Now the event is hosted in Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium, held in conjunction with the annual Chinese Cultural Heritage Festival.
As the event keeps getting bigger and better every year, with the number of event attendees growing annually.
According to Niu, the water splashing isn’t the only cultural practice on display; they also feature other performances, including Chinese folk dances and tug of war.
“The magic of water splashing is to break down social and cultural barriers to unite people together. No matter which cultural background you come from, everybody could have fun there,” said Niu.
“People of Chinese descent make up over 50 per cent of the population in Richmond, and we (Chinese immigrants) should be aware of having a responsibility to contribute to the local community.
“We could strengthen relations between each other by holding cultural events.”
The B.C. provincial government issued a proclamation at the beginning of July to declare that July 22 to 28 this year be known as “Chinese Cultural Heritage Week.”
“During this special week, the CCSA will host the Water Splashing Festival and the Chinese Cultural Heritage Festival that serve to strengthen cultural and economic relations between Canada and China and to recognize the significant contributions to arts, cuisine, music, and heritage by generations of Chinese Canadian,” reads the proclamation.
Niu promised this year’s festival would be bigger than before, and he welcomes any Richmondite to join the event on July 28 in Burnaby.
“You could stay cool under hot weather and get blessings, why not come have fun together?”
