Taiwan in Burnaby

The Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Festival ran all day at Bonsor Recreation Complex on July 11. Opera, puppet theatre, a cello quartet, a choir, and a craft hall full of people who wanted to show you how it’s made. I stayed for most of it.

The shrine — A Mazu altar set up under a tent outside — fruit, flowers, incense, and divination blocks on the table. Quiet corner in the middle of a busy day.

Taiwanese paper art — Every piece on this table is folded from recycled paper — calendars, flyers, cereal boxes. The dragon boat in front took longer than I want to guess.

Taiwanese opera — Two performers in full costume and makeup before going on. Hours of preparation for what you see here.

Painted face, painted claws — He showed me the pose. I did my best.

A full day, indoors and out, in a rec centre most of us drive past every week. That’s Burnaby.