CHINESE LANTERN FESTIVAL 2015 Set for COS New Year Festival

Sydney Harbour foreshore will light up with the iconic glow of hand-made lanterns when the city hosts the inaugural Chinese Lantern Carnival from 19-22 February 2015 at Darling Harbour as an associate event of City of Sydney Chinese New Year Festival and a partner of Month of Love, presented by Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.

The Chinese Lantern Carnival will offer Sydney-siders a spectacular Chinese New Year experience, boasting a line-up of cultural performances, dazzling lanterns, diverse folk arts, more than 50 stalls selling everything from dumplings to rice balls, handicrafts, open air cinema, workshops and fun activities for the whole family.

Originating from Han Dynasty, the Chinese lantern tradition symbolises family reunion, luck and bringing good fortune into the New Year. Chinese New Year is the most important traditional festival for Chinese people all over the world and this year the Australia China Economics, Trade and Culture Association together with Nanhai Culture & Media (Australia) Pty Ltd seek to offer all of Sydney a holiday celebration.

Thousands of lanterns will form a ten-metre-long lantern porch that will merge with lotus lanterns drifting on the water, dragon lanterns flying in the sky and a series of lights forming ancient Chinese architecture.

Chinese New Year not only conveys the cultural heritage and ethics of the Chinese nation, but also condenses their life pursuit and emotional sustenance. The Chinese Lantern Carnival is not only a festival event; it is a cultural pageant, where everyone in Sydney can get to know China. No matter where they are, the Chinese New Year has always been laid deep down in every Chinese soul.

Carnival events include interactive lantern making stations, shadow puppet workshops, stilt performances, acrobatics, traditional Chinese instruments, kungfu shows, Asian cuisine, costume photo booths and lots more.