SIGNAGE – Year of the pig (Source: Anne Tsang)
City of Parramatta is home to a diverse multicultural community with 20 percent of the population with Chinese ancestry. Many people with Asian heritage will be celebrating Lunar New Year.[1] Lunar New Year starts on the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends usually 15 days later during the first full moon. This year Lunar New Year falls on Tuesday 5 February 2019 and marks the incoming Year of the Pig.
The 15-day event isn’t limited to China.[2] Other countries that celebrate their own local version of Lunar new year on this day include:
- Vietnamese who call it Tết Nguyên Đán 節元旦 (Feast of the First Morning of the First Day)
- Koreans who celebrate Seollal (primarily refers to Eumnyeok Seollal, 음력 설날, Lunar New Year)
- Japanese New Year (Shōgatsu)
- Mongolian New Year (Tsagaan Sar)
- Tibetan New Year (Losar)
- Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau (Chinese New year or Lunar New Year)
In South East Asia, due to a significant Chinese minority in their population, “Chinese New Year” has been adopted as a national holiday in the following South East Asian countries[3]:
- Philippines – since 2012, the Chinese New Year festival has been included in public holidays in the Philippines and is considered to be the most important festival for Filipinos of Chinese descent.
- Malaysia – Chinese New Year is among the five most important celebrations in Malaysia. As a national holiday in the country, the customs and celebrations have a lot in common with those in China.
- Singapore – since 2017, Singapore has marked Chinese New Year as a three-day holiday. Tourists and locals can visit various places during the holidays, including the breath-taking Gardens by the Bay where Chinese New Year lights are put on display through the supertrees.
- Indonesia – since 2003, Chinese New Year, or ‘Imlek’ as it is known locally has been declared as a one-day public holiday in Indonesia.
- Brunei – Chinese New Year is a major public holiday in Brunei because of Brunei’s large Chinese communities. Just like in other areas where it is celebrated, Chinese New Year is observed in Brunei on the first day of the first month on the Chinese lunar calendar.
#Parramatta Lunar New year
To celebrate this occasion and the Year of the Pig, the City of Parramatta has scheduled a culture-filled program with delicious food, entertainment and free activities for the whole family to enjoy on Friday 15 February 2019 from 5pm to 9:30pm.
“Sit back and enjoy beautiful traditional and contemporary cultural performances from China, Vietnam and South Korea; take part in interactive kid-friendly activities and workshops (including calligraphy, lantern making, and cooking classes); and enjoy a Lunar feast fit for a king at one of the many delicious food stalls.
Don’t miss lantern garden installations, firecracker displays, dragon and lion dancers, fireworks finale at 9pm and more!
For more information: https://www.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/events/lunar-new-year-2019
Anne Tsang, Research Assistant, City of Parramatta, Parramatta Heritage Centre, 2019
References
[1] Gallagher, C. (2018, February 15). Which countries celebrate Chinese New Year? Festivities aren’t limited to China. In Hello Giggles. Retrieved 18/01/2019 from https://hellogiggles.com/news/which-countries-celebrate-chinese-new-year/
[2] Wikipedia contributors. (2019). Chinese New Year. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18/01/2019 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year ; Wikipedia contributors. (2019). Lunar New Year. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18/01/2019 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_New_Year
[3] Do native Southeast Asians celebrate Chinese New Year? In Quora. Retrieved 18/01/2019 from https://www.quora.com/Do-native-Southeast-Asians-celebrate-Chinese-New-Year