Chatswood is hosting a three-week festival to ring in the Year of the Rat and wave goodbye to 2019’s oinkers. The colourful celebrations will fan out across the suburb with dozens of markets, parades, dining events and art exhibitions.
Get lost among the dragons and lanterns at the Golden Market in Chatswood Mall from January 20-February 8. There’ll be a glowing host of more than 35 stalls offering food, decorations, toys, flowers, lucky bamboo and clothes to take into the New Year, as well as musical performances and activities like lion dancing, calligraphy workshops and live K-pop shows.
Lunar New Year’s Day is on January 25, and you’ll find more traditional dancing, music, drumming and kung fu demonstrations at the Chatswood Interchange. Then on February 1, it’s Chinese New Year Celebration Day, and Chatswood Mall and the Concourse will be taken over by the huge annual party. More than 8,000 visitors flock to the area to see magic shows, face changing and Chinese Opera. For an after-dark soirée, head to the Lunar New Year Twilight Parade at Chatswood’s CBD on February 8 and find a traditional Chinese parade of colourful floats and props winding down the Chatswood Interchange all the way to Anderson Street.
2020 invites the Metal Rat into our lives, and the year should be characterised by reliability, stability, motivation and a touch of luck.
