Chinese New Year celebrations will commence all over the world next month, including many festivities and events due to happen in Manchester.
February 5 will mark the beginning of the two-week celebration of the Spring Festival, more commonly known as Chinese New Year, with 2019 being the Year of the Pig.
Manchester’s Confucius Institute will be hosting several events, including a family craft workshop at the Arndale on February 9.
There will also be calligraphy and brush painting introduction session at the Virgin Money Lounge on King Street on the same day.
Karen Wang, Deputy Director of the Manchester Confucius Institute, explains that Chinese New Year is the largest festival for Chinese speakers all around the world, and that the festival’s date varies from year to year depending on the Chinese lunar calendar.
The Confucius Institute has been involved in Manchester’s Chinese New Year celebrations for the last five years.
It provides events and workshops for people to learn about China and Chinese culture, which includes school activities and language classes.
Aside from those of the Confucius Institute, other events and spectacles in store for Chinese New Year include a giant gold dragon, which will appear in Exchange Square between February 7 and 10, and an art installation ‘Piglet’ by Alex Rinsler which will be featured in St Ann’s Square from February 5 to 10.
The pig is one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, which rotates in a twelve-year cycle.
The Year of the Pig is the last in the cycle.
2018 was the Year of the Dog, and 2020 will be the Year of the Rat.
More information about events taking place across Manchester can be found here.
