The best Chinese New Year activities in London to bring in the Year of the Snake
The best Chinese New Year activities in London to bring in the Year of the Snake
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With roughly 1.5 per cent of London’s population having Chinese ancestry, accounting for 150,000 people, it’s no small wonder, then, that the capital city will have various festivities for Chinese New Year. Celebrated across many more countries in South Asia – such as Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines, as well in many diaspora communities around the globe, the Chinese New Year goes by many other names.
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Whether you call it the Spring Festival, Tet, or Seollal, London’s celebrations welcome hundreds of thousands of people for the biggest festival outside of Asia. 2025 will welcome the Year of the Snake for the first time since 2013. If you were born in 2001, 1989, 1977, 1965, 1953 or 1941, this year will be one of luck and opportunity.
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For everyone, here’s a look at how you can celebrate the Chinese New Year in London. The official London Chinese New Year Parade will take place the weekend after the Lunar New Year. With the New Year starting on Wednesday, January 29, the parade will take place on Sunday, February 2.
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From midday, the parade will kick off with speeches and the Lions’ Eye-Dotting Ceremony on the east corner of Trafalgar Square before snaking along Charing Cross Road and around the streets of Chinatown. Performances will continue throughout the day in Trafalgar Square, ranging from traditional dragon and flying lion dances to martial arts displays and an exciting line-up of modern artists from China.
