The Sydney Lunar Festival will kick off at the start of the Lunar New Year on Saturday, 25 January with free performances, markets, amusement rides and roving performers at a brand new event called Lunar Lanes. The culture and cuisine of China and other Asian countries that use the lunisolar calendar will dominate the celebrations for the Year of the Rat.
Asian music, fashion and dancing in the streets
The event for locals and visitors alike starts at 2pm at the Darling Square stage with a line-up of contemporary music including Malaysian drumming, Vietnamese pop and Asian-Australian musicians, producers and DJs.
As the sun goes down, the festivities will get underway in Haymarket with the Lunar Spectacular Show at the Sussex Street stage. The concert will feature over 300 community performers ready to share their culture, with traditional and contemporary dance, Korean percussion, Japanese hip hop and fashion shows.
They will be joined by more international performers including the Shaanxi Performing Arts Troupe from China, and Seoul's MB Crew. From 9pm there will be dancing in the streets to the sounds of Filipino-Australian band, Erween.
Arts, crafts, lion and dragon dancers
Street vendors and craft stalls will pop-up all across the district as visitors weave their way through art installations including the Chinatown Lantern Curtain. In Dixon Street Mall there will be, appropriately, two 2.8 metre-tall, golden robotic rats designed by Claudia Chan Shaw.
Roving performers will entertain crowds throughout Chinatown, and Lunar New Year wouldn't be complete without the joyful lion and dragon dancers, with more than a dozen performances bringing good luck to the Year of the Rat through the evening.
Visitors who can't make it on the 25th shouldn't despair. The Sydney Lunar Festival will continue at venues across the city until 9 February. City of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, said the festival will be the largest celebration of Lunar New Year outside of Asia. "It's a fantastic way for the people of Sydney, as well as visitors from interstate and overseas, to enjoy everything Haymarket, Chinatown and the Darling Harbour foreshore have to offer," she said.
It is estimated that more than a million visitors will enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of Asia when the city comes alive for this 16-day celebration.
Useful links
https://www.sydney.com/destinations/sydney/sydney-city/chinatown-and-haymarket