Celebrating Chinese New Year in London has been on my bucket list for well over a decade now, and I nearly went in 2014 when it was also the "year of the horse". The horse is my Chinese New Year animal, so I decided to make the effort this year to see the Chinese New Year parade in central London and then check out what was happening at Trafalgar Square. We have had an extremely wet winter so far since the beginning of January with nearly every single day having rain. The weather largely stayed dry during my visit into central London to celebrate Chinese New Year.
The Chinese New Year parade kicked off the celebrations at 10:00 in the morning. I got a good spot on the quiet road near Trafalgar Square, but soon it became extremely crowded.
Colour and costume was the theme of the day.
Many references to the twelve Chinese New Year animals were present. The horse took centre stage.
One of the first spectaculars was the Chinese dragon, which wound its way through the crowds like a serpent.
Schools and community groups followed with their own versions of dragons and the Chinese lions and other symbols of fortune and success.
Of course, we had the horse!
The colour and atmosphere was amazing.
One of the highlights of the parade were the dancers. They put on a show for a couple of minutes in front of me with energetic jumps, drums, and flying red cloth.
I headed my way up to Chinatown and caught a few more glimpses of the dragons.
Of course, Chinatown was popular and decorated with thousands of the red lanterns. Crowds had spilled onto the streets to enjoy Chinese cuisine.
I headed over to Trafalgar Square. They should have let us in at 11:00, but it ended up being 11:30 before we were able to get in. I was one of the first in, and I went straight to the companies and games giving free items. The square soon got very crowded. I wanted to watch the big stage from the top of the stairs, but by the time I had spent a few minutes walking around, it was impossible to climb back up the stairs due to people filling every space.
I had a look at the items for sale.
Finally, the day kicked off with an opening ceremony with the VIPs.
Each of the VIPs got to "dot the lion" with a brush to give it life (to see, hear, and smell). This ritual brings the lion to life.
We also had some "Money Gods" on stage.
After a break, we were treated to a performance by the talented lions. The lions balanced on small platforms on poles. There are more than one man to a lion costume, and their acrobatics were amazing.
I watched the lions peform, and I really wanted to stay for the later events, but I was tired. The square was very crowded, and I just did not want to stay. I may try it next year. There is a lighting ceremony at the end of the day at Trafalgar Square and music before that.
I had previously gone to Chinatown on the Saturday of the Chinese New Year. Most of the events take place on the Sunday, but I happened to find myself in Chinatown and watching the lions dance and parade around. It was not too crowded then, but this year, going into Chinatown to see the lions was not possible. For photographs of my visit to Chinatown, see Chinatown London Welcomes Lunar New Year 2014.
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