Manchester welcomes the Year of the Dragon
Glittering parading dragons and dancing lions will fill the streets to celebrate the arrival of the Chinese New Year.
The Federation of Chinese Associations of Manchester (FCAM) in partnership with Manchester City Council, and other sponsors, have organised the festival as the Chinese community bid farewell to the Year of the Rabbit and look ahead to the auspicious Year of the Dragon* - a year of excitement, unpredictability and intensity.
The celebrations will run throughout the weekend of Friday 27 January until Sunday 29 January.
On Friday 27 January from 7.30pm, Manchester Central Conference Centre will host an array of spectacular performances from the world acclaimed National Art and Dance Troupe flown in especially from China to wow the crowds with traditional Chinese performing arts, acrobatics, folk songs, dancing and magic.
Tickets for this incredible show are available through Sarah at the Chi Yip Group on 0161 655 3600 and the Chinese restaurants and supermarkets in Manchester Chinatown. Tickets are priced between £10 and £15.
The completely free event on Sunday 29 January will see an Oriental transformation in the city centre welcoming back Master Chu’s** spellbinding Dragon Parade and Lion Dances as they make their colourful journey from Manchester Town Hall to Chinatown from 12:30pm – before entertaining the crowds with performances throughout the day at both locations.
Albert Square and Chinatown will also be filled with street markets, food stalls and arts and crafts workshops from 11am – as well as a fair ground and traditional Chinese arts such as calligraphy, origami, tangrams and other games to immerse the whole family in Chinese culture.
The highlight of the day will be – for the first time in the UK – the highly anticipated Guangdong Fushan Martial Arts Troupe performing the beautiful High Poles Lion Dance.
A traditional lion costume manned by two expert martial artists that hop, balance and jump between high poles often 3m off the ground to mimic the powerful movements of a big cat to the rhythm of booming percussion – thought to be the zenith of perform art, skill and showmanship.
A dazzling 15 minute firework display in Chinatown from 6.00pm will provide a fitting grand finale to a magical day of Chinese tradition, arts and culture.
Last year more than 65,000 people flooded the city centre to mark the Chinese – or Lunar – New Year, making Manchester’s celebration the biggest Chinese festival in the North and 2012 is set to be even bigger and better.
Cllr Mike Amesbury, executive member for culture and leisure, said: "The Chinese community are incredibly important to the heritage of Manchester and have played a huge part in the city’s history – so it is always great to see this culture being celebrated as a public festival for everyone to enjoy.
"Every year the celebrations are fantastic – the Dragon and Lion dances alone need to be seen to be believed – but the showmanship of this year’s High Poles Dance promises to be utterly breathtaking."
Mr Stewart Yip, President of the Federation of Chinese Associations of Manchester (FCAM), said: "Every year we organise celebrations for major traditional Chinese festivities like Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day. Through these activities and events we raise the understanding and appreciation of Chinese Culture in the UK and enhance the link between local communities.
"As the president of FCAM, I must give a vote of thanks to our sponsors for their unwavering support throughout and especially in these years when the economy has been so hard hit by the downturn of the world economy.
"With their staunch support the CNY celebrations are always held with great joy and success and this being the year of the Dragon - which is the mystic animal identified by the Chinese as our forbear - a lot of planning, preparation and effort has been made to make this year's celebration a day full of fun and excitement at Chinatown and Albert Square."
And on Monday 23 January, Primary and Secondary Schools across the city will taste the Orient as school meal providers, Manchester Fayre, will provide a Chinese school lunch including sweet chilli chicken, noodles and banana fritters.
Notes to the editor:
* The Chinese Zodiac is a scheme that attributes each year of a 12-year cycle to a particular animal. The Dragon is particularly important to Eastern cultures being the only animal in the Zodiac that is legendary, but also symbolises the Chinese nation – an emblem of kinship.
**Master Chu has been the driving force behind Manchester’s Lion Dance Club for more than 30 years and is responsible for the fantastic dragon and lion parades that continue to be a much anticipated part of the annual Chinese New Year celebrations.
