Celebrate Lunar New Year 2025 with traditional Chinese arts and activities.
For a more relaxed start to the weekend, visit on Saturday 1 February, where a small selection of family-friendly workshops and craft stalls will be open from 12pm to 5pm.
Then on Sunday 2 February, join us in Chinatown for the main celebrations from 11am to 5pm with a full programme of traditional Chinese arts and craft activities.
Welcome the Year of the Snake with these wonderful, free activities!
Wiggly Wooden Snakes with Alex Herring
Make your own wiggly wooden snake with foraged wood from local beaches, woods and parks. Choose to leave natural or decorate with hand-made chalk paint and if you’d like to make a marionette style snake puppet, add strings and a stick handle.
Lantern Making Workshops with Hannah Bold, Bold Arts
Make your own bamboo lantern to bring light to the new year celebrations. Using bamboo sticks, mini lights, translucent paper and tape, you can build and decorate your own lantern to take home. Add decoration inspired by the snake and be inspired by the designs within the Chinatown arch. Add your own messages for hopes and dreams for the year to come.
Zig-Zag of the Snakes with Design Laser Play
A creative make-and-take arts workshop celebrating the Year of the Snake 2025. Create a slithering, springing motion of colour with a decorative snake.
Bring a Snake to Life with Digital Art Box
Create your own snake designs and see your artwork be transformed into interactive 3D animated creations using augmented reality. Connect with Lunar New Year traditions through art and technology.
Candle Making with Liverpool East and South East Asian Network (LESEAN)
Explore ESEA Lunar New Year traditions through Yang energy and the Year of the Snake in a candle-making workshop led by artist and bee expert Andrea Ku. Learn to work with wax, blend Chinese herbs for fragrance, and create unique candles symbolising brightness, purity, and prosperity.
Various Activities with Liverpool Chinese Students & Scholars Association (LCSSA)
Join LCSSA students to explore Chinese face painting, the game of Clipping Glass Marbles, and Chinese character modeling with plasticine. Experience Peking Opera face painting, test your chopstick skills with marbles, and create Chinese characters as both language and art.
Traditional Chinese Arts with Liverpool Confucius Institute (LCI) – AVAILABLE ON SUNDAY ONLY
The team from LCI will be on hand to show you the traditional Chinese arts of calligraphy, papercutting, and woodblock prints for you to have a go and take away your own piece of art.
Tea Ceremony and Paper Folding with Pagoda Arts
Try your hand at paper-folding to create your own snake and watch a traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony. Originating in the Tang Dynasty, this ceremony honors parents and grandparents with tea as a gesture of respect and gratitude.
Storytelling Sessions with Storybarn, The Reader Organisation
For over 1,000 years, storytellers in China’s marketplaces have shared culture and knowledge through oral storytelling (shuoshu). The Storybarn team will bring this tradition to life with stories! Don’t miss opportunities to explore diverse picture books between sessions.
Shadow Puppets with Unusual Arts Sourcing
Create a decorative articulated Snake in the style of a Chinese Shadow puppet to celebrate the New Year. Fun and engaging for people of all ages. The snakes can be made by made and decorated with their own designs or by adding Chinese paper cut style decorations of their own.
Tote Bag Making with Zap Graffiti
Join the team from Zap Graffiti and try graffiti art to create your own tote bag to take away. Artwork will be based on the Chinese New Year theme of Year of the Snake.
Circus Workshops with Bring the Fire Project
Sat 1 Feb, 12 – 2pm and Sun 2 Feb, 11.30am – 12.30pm & 2 – 3pm.
Learn to juggle, hula hoop, play with flower sticks, spin plates, use levitation sticks and use dancing ribbons among many other skills. Families are invited to play and learn together.
Fabaroony Facepainting
The talented team from Fabaroony will be joining us to paint your little ones (or big ones!) faces with Lunar New Year themed animals and decorations. Please note, charges apply for facepainting.
Event Date: Saturday 1st February 2025 - Sunday 2nd February 2025
Location: Family Workshop Zone, Nelson Street, Chinatown
Categories: 2025 | Arts | Chinese New Year | Free | Lunar New Year | Participate | Workshop | World Culture