City to hail the Chinese New Year with biggest street celebration ever
It just shows the amazing generosity of the people of Newcastle and how important the celebrations are Amanda Chan
NEWCASTLE will play host to what promises to be the biggest and best Chinese New Year festival it has ever seen in 2018.
A crowdfunding effort has secured £10,000 to boost the traditional event, which has become a fixture in the city’s cultural calendar.
Centred on Stowell Street, the vibrant display of dancing, drumming and costumes always attracts big crowds but organisers hope this funding will help the event grow.
A carnival weaving through the city, a stage area and more performers than ever are on the cards and crowds could swell to 15,000 after the expansion.
Through a Newcastle City Council scheme, the organisers, the Chinese Festivity Group, were able to double what they raised through grassroots crowdfunding.
Next year’s New Year celebrations will take place on February 16 and mark the start of the year of the dog, according to the traditional zodiac.
Amanda Chan, chair of The Festivity Group 2018 and committee member of the Chinese Festivity Group, said: “We have been honoured and humbled by the amount of support and encouragement we’ve received for our Newcastle Chinese New Year parade.
“It just shows the amazing generosity of the people of Newcastle and how important the Chinese New Year celebrations are seen in the eyes of the community. “The success of the funding campaign means that we can start planning towards next year’s event, as we welcome the involvement of volunteers, groups and performers from across the North East and not only from the Chinese community. “It will enable us to set up various creative and schools workshops that represent our commitment towards education and teaching people new performance skills.” She also encouraged people to get involved in the council’s crowdfunding scheme, which allows organisations to apply for a slice of a £50,000 pot of money provided through the Community Foundation for Tyne and Wear and Northumberland. Applicants which demonstrate they’ve already raised funds through grassroots donations are eligible to boost their coffers from the fund. Kim McGuinness, Newcastle City Council’s cabinet member for culture and communities, said: “It’s wonderful news for Newcastle that next year’s Chinese New Year celebrations will be bigger than ever before, thanks to support from the Crowdfund Newcastle Culture programme. “This success story highlights how people really get behind the community projects they care ab out. Individuals, groups and businesses have all shown support and as a result will see a great celebration.”