Cracking Chinese celebrations
MUSEUM AND WINTER GARDENS WELCOMES THE YEAR OF THE ROOSTER.
Chinese New Year Celebrations continue in Sunderland this weekend to welcome the Year of the Rooster.
Following the success of last year’s first largescale celebration, a full programme of events, including dragon dancing and the blessing of the lion, will take place at Sunderland’s Museum and Winter Gardens on Sunday.
The free event, which is the brainchild of local businessmen Harry Collinson and Ian Wong, will run from 12pm to 4pm and will include a special performance by a visiting school from Daqing in North East China, which is next to Harbin – a city twinned with Sunderland.
The cultural day will also include arts and crafts for children, including mask and lantern making, martial arts displays, live brush-painting demonstrations, storytelling in the museum’s library and calligraphy workshops.
From noon to 1pm, there will also be a number of outdoor performances, including firecrackers, dragon dancing, lion dancing and Qilin – also known as the Chinese Unicorn – dancing on the Museum and Winter Gardens terrace.
Ian Wong, who runs Asiana restaurant, in Sunderland city centre, said: “This year, we’ve moved the event to the Museum and Winter Gardens and hope that people of the North East will join us for another fantastic free family day out, with a lot more activities for the children to get involved in.”
Gemma Dishman, marketing and communications executive at Sunderland’s Business Improvement District, which is sponsoring the event, said:“It’s a real opportunity for the city to embrace Chinese culture and drive visitors into the city centre.”