If someone were to ask me about tonight's Twilight Parade that would be my response- wow. I have never in my life seen such an amazing display of color and culture. I felt so small and "un-worldly" watching so many people from different Asian countries proudly displaying their traditions. There is a whole world out there that I feel I know very little about...
The Twilight Parade is huge! Thousands of people must have attended. People lined the streets 4 to 5 people deep. Finding a place to stand where we could actually see was tricky. Once we found our space, we literally had to defend it from people trying to sneak by and take it! Crazy! The parade route spaned probably a mile or so of downtown Sydney to Chinatown. There was representation from many Asian countries the biggest being China. The other biggies were Korea and Vietnam. There was every kind of performer you could think of in the parade-- musicians, celebrities, politicians. dancers, contest winners. I loved seeing all the people dressed in the traditional clothing from their native countries. I think I liked the dressed from Korea the best. They were beautiful and looked very comfortable! :) There were, of course, lions galore- purple ones, red ones, white ones, black ones, lions that were lit up and even children dressed as lions. There were many different kinds of floats including each of the Zodiac signs. But the best part of the parade in my opinion was the DRAGONS! There were so many different kinds of dragons- some looked like fire, some lit up, another was made out of pots and pans and the others were all the colours of the rainbow. The dragon moves quickly and is hard to photograph! He is carried on bamboo poles by the dancers unlike the lion who is worn by the dancers. The dragons definitely were the biggest crowd pleasers.
There was a very strong presence of children in the parade as well. They did all the same "things" the adults did, but they were so much cuter. I loved watching the little ones do the lion dance! The dragons created by the children were wonderful as well.
Another highlight of the night was the illuminations on the walls of some of the downtown buildings. These changed every 2 minutes or so and were mesmerising and beautiful.
The biggest disappointment of the night was my camera. It was so slow and the flash wasn't working. On top of that the performers were all moving so quickly that I was only able to get a few good photos. I am very bummed about that. I have added some of the better ones below and some that are not so great, but they tell the story of the parade. I may steal a few from the internet as well.... :)
Kung Hei Fat Choy!
Dragon Floats
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| The leader of the parade |
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| made from pots and pans |
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| the komodo dragon- a float from Taronga Zoo |
Zodiac Floats
Graffiti Dragon
These paintings were made by artists before the parade began. They were made in the graffiti style using spray paint! I would LOVE to have this on my wall....
Dragons
Not the greatest photos, but you get the idea
Not the greatest photos, but you get the idea
Chengdu's Panda Float
The city of Sydney has a delegation from China each year for the CNY. This year the delegation came from Chengdu. Their "representative" is the giant panda. Below is the panda float from the delegations. Each of the pandas are actually paper lanterns!
Lions
You all know about my fascination with the lion dance. There were so many different kinds of lions in the parade it was hard to keep track. Here are the photos, though not so good, of some of the lions.
Projections
Sydney likes to do projections on buildings. They did it at Christmas time and again tonight. I have to admit, tonights were far better. I hope the photos capture the beauty of these illuminations. I stood and watched them for about a half hour after the parade ended and took tons of photos. My favorite is, of course, the projections with the dragons.
It was an incredible night. I had been waiting for over a month for this parade and it met and maybe even exceeded my expectations. I am sorry the boys were not able to stay long enough to enjoy it- it was too crowded and too late for them. My mom stayed with me a while after the boys left and then she headed home as well. So I stayed myself for over an hour. It think this was one of the best experiences I have had since we have been here in Sydney. Now most of the CNY events are over. You won't have to see any more lion pics or read about my CNY obsession anymore....until next year! :)
You all know about my fascination with the lion dance. There were so many different kinds of lions in the parade it was hard to keep track. Here are the photos, though not so good, of some of the lions.
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| Love this! |
Projections
Sydney likes to do projections on buildings. They did it at Christmas time and again tonight. I have to admit, tonights were far better. I hope the photos capture the beauty of these illuminations. I stood and watched them for about a half hour after the parade ended and took tons of photos. My favorite is, of course, the projections with the dragons.
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| My favorite |
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| close-up |
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| another close-up |
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| another favorite |
It was an incredible night. I had been waiting for over a month for this parade and it met and maybe even exceeded my expectations. I am sorry the boys were not able to stay long enough to enjoy it- it was too crowded and too late for them. My mom stayed with me a while after the boys left and then she headed home as well. So I stayed myself for over an hour. It think this was one of the best experiences I have had since we have been here in Sydney. Now most of the CNY events are over. You won't have to see any more lion pics or read about my CNY obsession anymore....until next year! :)
