Ōtepoti Dunedin’s Chinese New Year celebrations will get a "glow up" in the New Year.
Previously celebrated as a one-day event, the 2025 Chinese New Year will welcome the Year of the Snake with a 14-day festival from January 26-February 9.
In a statement, Enterprise Dunedin said the festival concept was inspired by this year’s 30th anniversary of the Dunedin-Shanghai Sister City relationship and would celebrate the city’s long-standing Chinese connections.
The celebration would involve decorating streets and businesses, and operators such as Dunedin Railways and Lan Yuan Dunedin Chinese Garden getting involved with lantern festivals, Chinese heritage train journeys, tours and more.
Stories of Chinese settlers who established their families here after the Otago Gold Rush and began businesses like market gardens and laundries would also be on display, the statement said.
Lan Yuan Dunedin Chinese Garden will continue to host the main Chinese New Year celebrations, on February 1, with a parade, dragon dances, food trucks, cultural performances, and fireworks. — APL
