Newcastle Celebrates Chinese New Year With Parade
Newcastle's city centre drew large crowds for its annual Chinese New Year celebration. The event, marking the start of the Lunar New Year, featured a traditional Dragon Dance and a new dragon as part of its revised parade.
- The 2026 celebration marks the Year of the Horse, which begins on February 17th, with Newcastle's main events scheduled for Sunday, February 22nd. - This year is also designated as a Fire Horse year, a more specific zodiacal occurrence that happens approximately every 60 years and is traditionally associated with a period of intense change and progress. - A rare "dragon eye-dotting ceremony," an ancient ritual to awaken the spirit of the new dragon, will take place at Grey's Monument to bless the new 13-metre-long dragon, the first the city has welcomed in over a decade. - Over 150 performers participate in the parade, including the Edmund Ng Kung Fu Lion and Dragon Club, students from the Confucius Institute at Newcastle University, and local primary school pupils with a seven-foot mini dragon. - The celebrations are a collaborative effort organized by the Chinese Festivities Group, Newcastle City Council, and the business improvement district company, NE1 Ltd. - The parade route begins at Grey's Monument at 11:30 am, proceeds along Blackett Street and Gallowgate, and concludes in Chinatown, which is one of only five officially designated Chinatowns in the UK. - Festivities extend beyond the parade, with food vendors, market stalls, fairground rides, and an arts and crafts tent located on Bath Lane from 10:30 am until 4 pm. - To facilitate the parade, temporary road closures will be in effect on Blackett Street and Gallowgate while the procession is in motion.
