Chinese New Year is always a big celebration in the North East, with a vibrant Chinese community welcoming everyone to join in. The Chinese lunar new year begins on 29th January marking the Year of the Snake.
Find out more about Chinese language and culture events, activities and resources available for schools, as part of the Festival, as well as events happening across the North East.
Chinese Spring Festival (New Year)
Chinese New Year is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated at the turn of the Chinese calendar. In China, it is also known as the Spring Festival. The date for Chinese New Year is different every year as it is set according to the Lunar calendar. It falls on the first day of the new moon which begins in either late January or February. Celebrations last for around 15 days, ending on the day of the full moon. Customs differ, but Chinese New Year is important for families to come together and wish each other peace and prosperity for the year ahead.
Festival events and activities
There are lots of events and activities that schools and groups can get involved in with a Chinese focus as part of this year’s Festival.
Visit the dedicated Festival Chinese page or scroll down to find out what schools and groups can get involved with linked to Chinese language and culture.
- Welcome to China Events with Confucius Institute
- Chinese Documentary Film Screening at Newcastle University
- Language and culture taster sessions with Newcastle University Language Resource Centre
- Festival Song (What a Wonderful World) sing in Chinese
- Mother Tongue Other Tongue – write poetry in Chinese
- Weaving Friendship art project – write messages in Chinese
- Language Calligrams – create images from Chinese words
- Language student immersion in Chinese at Durham University
- ENACT around the world club Chinese activities
- Visit the Multilingual Library in Gateshead
- Languages and careers webinars – where Chinese and other languages can take you
- Visit the Chinese Festival page to find more inks to support from British Council for language learning and Confucius Institute at Newcastle University to learn language and about Chinese Culture
You can also celebrate International Mother Language Day as a Chinese speaker on 21st February or Celebrate Speaking! in February as part of the national celebration of languages spoken at home, in the community or learned at school.
Year of the Snake Primary Education Pack
British Council have produced a Year of the Snake Education Pack for primary schools. The pack contains resources to help schools learn about and celebrate the spring festival, Chinese Language and Culture:
- learn about Chinese New Year/Spring Festival and the Legend of Lady White Snake
- take part in drama and creative activities and find out about regions in China and other Chinese festivals
- find out fascinating facts about snakes
- practice some Chinese calligraphy
- learn about and prepare leaf-wrapped rice dumplings
- hold a Year of the Snake celebration event
North East Chinese New Year Celebrations
North East cities celebrate the Chinese New Year, and Chinese culture in style. These are some of the events taking place.
Newcastle: Chinese New Year will be celebrated on 2nd February with a Lion and Dragon Dance parade from Grey’s Monument at 11.30 culminating at the Chinese Arch, with events and activities in China Town from 11am throughout the day. Click here to find out more.
Sunderland: Entertainment, arts and crafts and food from across Asia will be heading to Sunderland on 9th February to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Click here to find out more.
Durham: Lunar New Year celebrations are set to bring the streets of Durham alive with colour, dancing and music on Saturday 1st February. This includes the annual Lantern Festival and the Lion Dance. Click here to find out more.
Did you know?
- There are now over 35,000 people in the community in Newcastle and surrounding areas, from all over the world – Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, and South East Asia (Malaysia, Singapore). There is also a strong Chinese student body in North East Universities.
- The North East Chinese Association (NECA) and the Northern British Chinese Entrepreneur Association are two of the key organisations supporting and representing the community. NECA was formed in 1979 by volunteers to support the local community and now provides a wide range of cultural, social and education services and opportunities.
- China Town in Newcastle is one of only five China Towns in the UK and sits at the heart of the Chinese community. Based around Stowell Street in the city centre, it has a bustling Chinese community centre, supermarket and a fabulous selection of restaurants.
- St John’s cemetery in Elswick has the first recorded Chinese person in the city, with a headstone in Chinese letters from 1881, dedicated to a Chinese sailor.
- The first Chinese restaurant opened in 1949, but it was in the 1960s-1980s that a lot more migration occurred, with people seeking business opportunities and the chance to make a better living.