Asian communities abuzz ahead of Lunar New Year festivities

Celebrations for the Lunar New Year are about to kick off with a bang as New Zealand's Asian communities welcome the Year of the Snake.

Among the fireworks, food stalls, dragon dances and karaoke competitions, a three-metre-high lucky cat is also standing tall in the city centre.

The Auckland Chinese Community Centre's New Year Festival takes place on Saturday, ahead of Chinese New Year, which falls on 29 January.

The event, which has been running since 1992, will feature martial arts, music performances, dancing, fireworks and more than 200 stalls at the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland.

Kai-Shek Luey, former chairman of the organisation, was anticipating a sizeable crowd.

"We've been doing it for so long now," Luey said. "It's just so important to our organization to have people enjoy themselves and to celebrate Chinese New Year, which is an important part of our calendar."

The Auckland City Council's Lunar New Year celebrations are returning for a second year and will run for four weeks from Sunday through 22 February.

To mark the occasion, street food stalls, lion and dragon dances, hip-hop dances, karaoke competitions, sculpture installations and neon-red lucky cats are poised to pop up around the CBD over the next month.

On 1 February, Lorne Street will be closed to traffic for a day and replaced with street dance battles, tai chi lessons, buskers and music performances.

Festival director Eric Ngan said this year would be bigger and better than ever before.

"Amongst all of that, with those traditional programs, with the contemporary, with the long-term art installations, with the food ... I'm struggling to see where there isn't something for everybody," Ngan said.

In the 2023 Census, 518,178 individuals in Auckland, or 31.3 percent of the city's population, identified with an Asian ethnicity.

This represented an increase of more than 75,500 people, or 17.1 percent, since the previous census five years earlier.

According to the 2023 Census, 50.4 percent of central city residents identified with an Asian ethnicity, compared to 31.3 percent across the wider Auckland region.

Ngan said the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations reflected Auckland Council's efforts to acknowledge the city's changing demographics.

"We recognise that in terms of the growing populations, so we're certainly keen on developing social cohesion in the communities and also showcasing and sharing the cultures with each other," he said.

Chinese singer-songwriter Amy Shuang Wang, who performs under the name Raging Flowers, was excited to perform her original music at the Auckland Art Gallery as part of the new year celebrations.

She said she felt proud that her culture was being seen by more people, adding that the celebrations were a chance for everyone to feel connected.

"I think there is still a stereotype that's negative towards Asian cultures, and I think it will help to bring out the more positive and the arts and culture in front of Kiwi people."

Wang planned to hold a workshop on songwriting at the art gallery to encourage people to express their emotions and thoughts through music.

Tania Loveridge, head of advocacy and engagement at business association Heart of the City, said last year's events created a vibrant atmosphere, which was exactly what the Lunar New Year was all about.

"It's just about reconnecting and sharing and celebrating as we head into the ... Asian New Year," Loveridge said.

"It had a buzz, and we just can't wait for that to be replicated and hopefully more with a stronger program and more happening over a longer period of time."

In addition to the celebrations in Auckland, Wellington's Lunar New Year Festival starts on 29 January and runs through mid-February, featuring street performers and a fireworks display at the waterfront.

Further south, Christchurch has events planned from 7-8 February at Victoria Square.