Lunar New Year has fun for all ages this month

Dublin’s Lunar New Year festival kicks off tomorrow and will run until February 11. This year is the Year of the Dragon and there will be fun and events for the whole family. The celebrations will come to an exciting conclusion on February 11 which is Lunar New Year’s Day, with a major flagship event taking place in Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, from 12pm - 6pm. This event is free to attend and for all ages. There will be everything from authentic cuisine and dazzling performers, to creative demonstrations and traditional Lunar New Year games. This will include the new show-stopping commission, The Journey of the Dragons, a collaborative project by international spectacle champion, Lisette Krol, and Vietnamese-Irish DJ, Lychee, who join a line up of incredible performers from the Chinese, Korean, Mongolian and Taiwanese communities. Experience Cantonese Lion and Dragon performances from Flower City Dragon and Lion Dance Association and students of the Sam Lee Academy will demonstrate how to harness your inner chi with the slow and graceful movements of the late Sam Lee’s style of Tai Chi. Workshops will include a collaborative experience with visual artist Jane Groves working together to complete an epic dragon head sculpture, and with artist Heather Gray co-create a series of multi-cultural dragon illustrations or get your face painted with your very own zodiac animal.

Many events: Six-year-old Maya Wai launches the festival For some Lunar New Year laughs, head to the International Comedy Club on Sunday, hosted by Sharon Mannion, featuring some of Dublin’s most exciting upand-coming acts, including Nghia Mai, Robbie Wild, and Marlon Simeon. Get creative at the Chester Beatty tomorrow in some excellent workshops where you can try the Chinese knot challenge or take a mindful workshop in Chinese Ink Painting or on February 10 create your own New Year lantern. At the National gallery of Ireland artist Chun Zu Wang presents a family workshop to create a Year of the Dragon masterpiece inspired by a 600-year old painting of St. George and the Dragon in the Gallery’s collection. For the full programme see dublinlunarnewyear.ie.