Ottawa’s annual Chinese Lunar New Year Parade will go above and beyond the customary celebrations this weekend with the adoption of a soccer theme.
The surprising union between the annual cultural celebration and “the beautiful game” is being used to promote the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, according to Shirley Fang, parade organizer and executive co-ordinator of the Chinatown BIA.
The tournament opens on June 6, with Ottawa among several Canadian cities where games will be played. The BIA is organizing the parade in partnership with Winterlude to take place at 1 p.m. on Feb. 8. The parade route runs along Somerset Street between Preston and Bay.
FIFA, the international governing body for soccer, will also be sending a street team and two branded vehicles to participate.
“One of our objectives through hosting this competition in Ottawa is to positively impact on the community and not just on the competition itself,” says Valerie Hughes, venue general manager for the World Cup matches in Ottawa. “So, being able to be a part of a celebration within our own community is a great opportunity for us.”
Hughes says Ottawa’s multicultural makeup makes it an especially appropriate host city for the tournament, which will include the national women’s teams from 24 countries.
“I think that’s what’s unique to Ottawa,” she says. “We have this beautiful stadium in the heart of the city where we’re going to welcome the world.”
Nine of the tournament’s games will be played at Lansdowne Park’s TD Stadium, while the rest will take place at venues in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Moncton. The final game will be played in Vancouver.
While China is sending a team to this year’s tournament, it’s not scheduled to play in Ottawa. Team China’s first game is in Edmonton, against Team Canada.
FIFA has also recently sent representatives to the local German-Canadian community’s annual schnitzel dinner and spent an evening with the Mexican-Canadian Cultural Association of Ottawa-Gatineau. As Hughes puts it, “we really do get out there and try to participate in as many things as we can.”
Hughes says that one of the great parts of organizing the Ottawa tournament has been outreach from the many embassies and cultural community organizations, including the Chinatown BIA. In most cases, as Fang did with the Chinese Lunar New Year Parade, community members are the ones to extend invitations to FIFA.
Community events also grant the organization access to those outside of FIFA’s fan base. “We hope to engage not just soccer fans in this competition, because it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to celebrate the world’s best female soccer players right in our own backyard,” says Hughes. “Not many people get to experience that.”