Asian food festival to kick off new Lunar New Year celebration

Sunday 15 January 2023

An array of Asian food and a traditional dragon and lion dance will be on offer in town next weekend as Jersey launches its first ever Lunar New Year festival.

The festival will aim to promote Asian culture while marking the start of the Chinese Year of the Rabbit.

The opening ceremony of the Lunar New Year festival will take place in the Central Market from 12:00 until 16:00 on Sunday 22 January, and will also include a student choir performance and a traditional Cambodian dance.

The festival will run until Sunday 5 February and will also include in-school lessons on Chinese language and culture across the island.

Pictured: Celebrations will begin in the Central Market next Sunday, the first official day of the Lunar New Year.

"This is a great chance for islanders to find out a little more about Asian culture, and to understand the importance of the Lunar New Year to the 1.5 billion people who celebrate it around the world," said organiser Victoria Li.

Economic Development Minister Deputy Kirsten Morel added: "This is a great opportunity to celebrate our island's Asian community with a fantastic programme of events.

"My ambition is for the Jersey Lunar New Year Festival to become an annual event, and a model for similar celebrations of our island's many communities."

Meanwhile, Jersey Post has marked the Year of the Rabbit through the launch of a themed set of stamps, which were also the first to bear King Charles III's cypher.

Pictured: The new miniature stamp sheet marking the Year of the Rabbit.

Illustrated by Wang Huming, the Deputy Chief Designer of the Postage Stamp Printing Bureau of China Post, the stamps feature symbols of health and longevity.