Blessings, lanterns, parades welcome Geelong to the new year

THE year of the horse has been welcomed in, as Lunar New Year celebrations are marked across Geelong.

Sharing cultural traditions at Geelong City Market, the Chinese Association of Geelong welcomed revellers to enjoy the festivities.

Lion dances were interspersed with traditional music, dragon displays and a bian lian (face-changing) performance.

 

Organiser Rolgliang He said the event was so well attended demonstrations had to be closed early.

A small army of volunteers from the association led Chinese paper cutting, brush writing and lantern-making booths. Meanwhile, there was plenty of entertainment for attendees to enjoy.

 

“This was the first public celebration for the local community in the past 10 years,” He said.

“We had two big lions, four kids-sized lions and one small dragon in the parade and then after the parade we asked the kids to come and hold the dragon and wear the lions.”

He said the turnout was beyond expectations, but for those who missed out, there will be more to come at Pako Festa this weekend.

 

A week earlier, the Geelong Dragon Boat Club hosted the annual Lunar New Year regatta at the Barwon River.

The first time the club has been selected to host the event, president Denis Jenkins said the event was a huge success.

Hailing from China, the team sport has grown a cult following across the globe with close to 500 people competing at the Geelong regatta.

 

“Dragon boating is a Chinese sport and Lunar New Year is a big day in the calendar,” Jenkins said.

“One of the Melbourne clubs is the Chinese Youth Society of Melbourne. As well as doing the dragon boating they’re involved in other traditional Chinese events and have a lion dance crew.

“They doubled up and we had a half an hour of total entertainment in the middle of the day which was really good.”

 

The boats were also blessed before they were launched, with the dragons awoken and fed, ready for competition.

Lunar New Year began on 17 February, marking the beginning of 15 days of celebration.

 

The horse is the seventh of the 12 Chinese zodiacs and represents confidence, resilience and progress.

Rolgliang He said this new year will bring motivation, new opportunities and forward momentum.