Lunar New Year is a significant annual festival in Chinese culture and is celebrated both domestically and globally, usually in countries with significant Chinese populations. The exact date of the festival changes each year but always occurs at the turn of the lunar-solar Chinese calendar. Festivities tend to last up to 15 days and end with the Lantern Festival, which dates back over 2,000 years and involves lantern displays, lion and dragon dances, traditional foods, fireworks and folk performances.
Lunar New Year Perth celebrations at Central Park
The Lunar New Year festival is considered a time for family, reflection and the ushering in of good luck and prosperity for the new year. At Central Park, we are hosting a number of special events to celebrate the start of the Year of the Dragon!
Spin the Lucky Coin to Win*
The concepts of luck and good fortune are central to Lunar New Year celebrations. In fact, the loud noises of traditional fireworks and firecrackers are believed to ward off evil spirits and bad luck, while the prevalence of the colour red, the most auspicious colour in Chinese culture, can be traced back to its symbolism of joy, prosperity and good fortune.That’s why we’re once again bringing our very own wheel of fortune to this year’s Lunar New Year festivities!
Details
Wed 14 Feb | Thurs 15 Feb | Tue 20 Feb | Fri 23 Feb
11am-1pm | Lobby
Spin the wheel to find your fortune!
- Spin the Lucky Coin wheel
- The pointer will land on a zodiac animal
- Lift the envelope lid on your chosen animal to reveal a prize
Lion Dance Performance
Thursday 15 February at 12pm in the Park
The lion is considered a guardian creature in Chinese culture and the lion dance is believed to bring good luck and fortune to the business or community where it is performed. The dance is usually performed by two dancers wearing a lion costume, which is elaborately coloured and decorated, mainly with red. The loud percussive music accompaniment that the dance is performed to is also considered crucial to its effectiveness - these abrasive noises are believed to drive bad spirits away.
As Lunar New Year celebrations have become more global, lion dances have developed regional variants specific to their location. That being said, there still tend to be common elements across cultures, such as using the dance as a way to tell a story of good overcoming evil and allowing younger audience members to learn more about Chinese culture.
We wish you a happy Lunar New Year and hope to see you at one of our celebrations!
*Limited prizes available each day. Cannot be exchanged or refunded.