On Friday 8th February you can spot the Chinese Lion parade around the Colmore Business District from noon and then head to St Philip’s Cathedral and Grounds for Chinese tea and a free lunchtime concert at 1pm in Birmingham Cathedral with performances from Birmingham Conservatoire and Dans Dance Company.

Celebrations continue on Saturday 9th February in the city centre. From noon expect a parade of lion and dragon dancers through Bullring & Grand Central along with acrobatics and martial arts from Shaolin Warriors, Hip-Hop dance from Hong Kong born choreographer Si Rawlinson and traditional fan and face changing dance from Dans Dance Company.

On Sunday 10th February head to the streets in Southside Chinatown and around Birmingham Hippodrome for an afternoon of celebrations from acrobatics, circus, dance performances, market stalls and a fun fair. The Arcadian will host a dedicated lion and dragon dance area along with a karaoke stage and performances throughout the afternoon.

Indoors, Birmingham Hippodrome will host free performances in The Patrick Studio featuring music, dance and spoken word and in the foyer and atrium spaces experience a range of Chinese craft activities, a Fan Dance workshop with Dans Dance Company and an opportunity to add your wishes to the Chinese Wishing Tree, inspired by the wishing tree tradition which is hundreds of years old.

Festivities will close with one final lion dance and of course firecrackers, on the mainstage on Hurst Street.

James Wong, Chairman of Birmingham’s Chinese Festival Committee said: “This year’s programme is hugely exciting and diverse and will see us working with all our partners to bring Chinese New Year to places and spaces across the City. We are very proud of our heritage in bringing this unique and unforgettable spectacle to life.
“About half of our Chinese New Year visitors will be Chinese. Birmingham’s celebrations are every bit as exciting as those anywhere in the world and we are looking forward to keeping the crowds enthralled.”

Graham Callister, Associate Director, Community Engagement & Festivals at The Hippodrome added: “We are delighted to be working with the Chinese Festival Committee to co-produce this year’s festivities. Over three days people from Birmingham and the West Midlands are invited to join us in celebrating. All events and activities are free, from the traditional lion dance to Hip-Hop to martial arts and traditional Chinese crafts. And if last year is anything to go by, we shall look forward to seeing people ‘battle’ it out on the karaoke stage.”