‘Most chaotic sport of all time’ takes over roads at Chinatown’s 3rd-annual spring block party

The third Van (B)loc Party in Edmonton's Chinatown featured local artists, lion dance performers, live DJ's and cultural festivities.

The third year was the charm for Edmonton’s Chinatown youth-led block party.

“Year one was rain, year two was wind, but for the first time we’ve got sun, so it’s really exciting,” organizer Wilson Wong said on Saturday.

Wong wears many hats as one of the young entrepreneurs wanting to see Chinatown thrive, and this weekend’s Van (B)loc party was just one of the events put on by him and his team.

Live DJs, local artists, food vendors, lion dance performers and other cultural festivities will span 98 Street to 105 Street on Saturday and Sunday.

Unique this year are two blocks that have been entirely cordoned off for 20 by metre courts in the middle of the road. The game is nine-man volleyball – a sport most know and love, but with an added twist.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like. Nine people on each side, six attackers, three back line,” Wong said. “It’s one of the most chaotic sports of all time.”

The sport was first created in the 1930s by Chinese immigrants to North America and has decades-long roots in eastern provinces.

Wong’s vision is to have western Canada fall in love with the game, too.

“I remember when I was a kid playing in the middle of the road, and when a vehicle comes, what did every kid yell? ‘Car!’” Wong said.

“I think that level of vibrancy is returning as we continue to be more creative here in our streets, in our community, and especially in Chinatown, being able to merge culture and heritage together with great entrepreneurship and great businesses.”

Edmonton’s Chinatown has been the target of multiple revitalization and vibrancy projects in past years. City council voted earlier this year to bump spending through the Chinatown Vibrancy Fund up to $500,000 per year in the next four-year budget cycle.

Wong, who owns two businesses in the heart of Chinatown – Boa and Hare as well as the party’s namesake, Vietnamese submarine shop Van Loc – says the efforts mean his peers can build a community Edmontonians can be proud of.

“I really believe in our city. I really believe in our community, because at the end of the day, people want to take care of each other … most importantly, they don’t want to talk bad about their own back yard,” he said.

“If you live here, if you have a family here … I think at the end of the day, it’s being able to, instead of point fingers, say, ‘Where can I contribute?’”

The Chinatown Van (B)loc party runs Saturday until 11 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall