Celebrate Lunar New Year on the Hill

NEXT weekend outdoor museum Sovereign Hill is set to come alive with its annual Lunar New Year celebrations.

The event held on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 February will feature music, food and cultural performances.

The weekend celebrates Chinese traditions which were present during life on the goldfields in the 1850s.

“Chinese history is rich through Sovereign Hill and right through Ballarat more broadly, so this is our chance to celebrate the Lunar New Year festivities,” said Peter Taylor, head of events and program innovation at Sovereign Hill.

“Ballarat was home to thousands of migrants who brought with them their Lunar New Year traditions and they were core to the goldrush story of Ballarat and Victoria more broadly.

“We partner with the Chinese Australian Cultural Society and spend many months making sure we are celebrating Lunar New Year respectively.”

There will be dragon and lion parades on main street, a special food and drinks menu, lantern displays and traditional Peking Opera face painting and art and craft sessions.

At the Victoria Theatre there will be performances of tai chi, ribbon and fan dancing and live music from the Chinese Australian Cultural Society Ballarat.

A Lunar New Year banquet lunch will also be on offer with dumplings, noodles, desserts and drinks inside the New York Bakery as well as market food stalls.

The museums back of house tour of the Chinese collections will also be on.

“We’ve been celebrating Lunar New Year for a long time, but it’s been 12 years since we’ve celebrated the year of the dragon so there will be dragons well and truly immersed throughout Sovereign Hill,” said Mr Taylor.

“We’ve even had Canadian Lead Primary School very generously lend us their very long dragon.”

Tickets to the two-day event can be purchased on the Sovereign Hill website.