Community on parade in colorful cultural celebration
Local residents from the Siping Community as well as performers from around Shanghai and its neighboring provinces presented a rich variety of shows at the annual Lantern Parade on Tuesday to celebrate the Lantern Festival. Also part of the parade, 16 craftsmen and street artists showed their skills at a cultural heritage market.
The Lantern Parade this Tuesday in Siping Community featured hundreds of handmade lanterns, juggling and acrobatic performances, dragon and lion dances, models presenting folk and exotic clothing and time honored arts and crafts.
The celebration of the Lantern Festival is a tradition in Yangpu District.
It has proved to be an effective platform to promote the district’s traditional culture and build Yangpu’s cultural confidence.
It was included in Shanghai’s intangible cultural heritage protection list in 2015, and last year Siping Community was named a “Town of Folk Culture and Art in Shanghai (2018-2020).”
Tuesday’s celebrations began on Sujiatun Road — one of Shanghai’s 10 boulevards and historic areas, demonstrating the exclusive charm of intangible cultural heritage in the Yangtze River Delta region.
Performers from around the city and neighboring Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces demonstrated the best of their own cultural heritage to celebrate the traditional festival which marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Stunning performances by folk artists from Suzhou’s Dongshan Town, Zhejiang’s Dangkou and Chuzhou in Anhui Province as well as dockers from Shanghai Harbor singing work songs launched the celebrations.
Performers from Siping Community presented a waist drum dance and performed calisthenics, while children donned pig masks, all showcasing the local residents’ positive attitude to life.
A cultural heritage market featured 16 craftsmen and street artists.
Shanghai fabric painting, which originated in Siping Community, was on show with works made of cloth, cardboard and cotton depicting images of flowers, birds, insects and fish.
There were also straw painting, micro-sculpture, kite making, palm leaf weaving, paper-cutting, Yangshupu dragon lanterns, Chinese knotting, straw weaving, gourd carving and balloon modeling on display. Solving lantern riddles was also a popular activity.
