Here’s how Liverpool will be celebrating Chinese New Year 2021

This year is the Year of the Ox in the Chinese New Year calendar and Liverpool will still be celebrating with a special online festival.

Liverpool’s Chinese Ceremonial Archway has become a beacon of fortune and the focal point for people to gather to celebrate the annual Chinese New Year Festival. The streets adorned with Chinese lanterns, the lion and unicorn displaying their strength and sharing good luck through traditional dance and of course the noisy firecrackers to ward off bad luck and delight the crowds.

Whilst a number of traditions remain, including the symbolic Chinese lanterns decorating the heart of Chinatown and buildings lit up red in honour of this age-old tradition, the rest of this year’s celebrations will be somewhat different.

As 2021 welcomes the year of the Ox, Culture Liverpool invites you to enjoy the celebrations online from the comfort and safety of your home.

From Friday 12 to Sunday 14 February, a selection of activities, archive footage put together by our video team here at The Guide Liverpool, and a gallery of images from years gone by have been shared, courtesy of our cultural partners.

Some of the highlights include:

• Footage of the Chinese Lion and Dragon dance – an integral and popular part of the city’s usual celebrations.
• A variety of fun workshops hosted on Saturday 13 February by the Everyman & Playhouse Theatres (booking required). These include decoration making, calligraphy, Chinese dancing, discovering Chinese rap and street dance.
• The stunning Chinatown illuminations which wowed crowds during the 2017-2019 events.
• A traditional Tibetan dance performed by the Friendship Dance Group.
• A puppet show re-telling the story of the Chinese zodiac calendar by VIP Puppets.
• Tai Chi demonstrations by Merseyside Tai Chi in association with See Yep.

Acting Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Wendy Simon, said:

“Liverpool’s Chinese New celebrations are always hugely popular, attracting tens of thousands of people each year.

“Staging events isn’t an option at the moment, so working in collaboration with the Chinese community we have produced the next best thing which allows people to celebrate safely.

“It’s a fantastic mix of brand new content alongside film footage and photos of past events which really show the city at its best – coming together to share the new year with our much-loved Chinese community.

“We are all hoping that in 2022 we can see the return of our more traditional celebrations, but for this year please stay at home and enjoy everything on offer from the comfort of your own sofa!”

Secretary of Liverpool Chinese Business Association, Ming Wang, said:

“Chinese New Year is a very important time for our community and it’s a time for families to come together to celebrate.

“Although we are disappointed that we can’t be together as is tradition in Chinatown, we are very pleased to work on producing this website which will allow us all to virtually share this experience and mark the Year of the Ox.”

Get more info with Culture Liverpool here.