Chinese New Year celebrations ready to roar in Birmingham

Celebrations to mark the start of Chinese New Year 2022 will kick off with a roar in the heart of Birmingham this week.

The traditional lion dance starts in Centenary Square on Westside at 8.30am on Tuesday before visiting other parts of the city centre and beyond throughout the day.

And Westside Business Improvement District (BID) will give the first 50 people watching the event a free £3 voucher to enjoy a breakfast muffin at the Solomon and Cutler Wetherspoons pub on Broad Street.

Chinese New Year 2022 will see in the ‘Year of the Tiger’. The annual celebration, also called Spring Festival, marks the start of a new lunar year, with festivities traditionally lasting up to two weeks including fireworks, gifts, dragon and lion dances.

The coronavirus pandemic meant that no official events could take place in Birmingham in 2020 or last year.

The event is organised by James Wong, chair of Birmingham’s Chinese Festival Committee and managing director of the city’s famous Chung Ying Restaurants.

He said: “I made it my mission a few years ago to spread these celebrations across the city, and I’m pleased to say I’ve done it! The idea is to preserve Chinese heritage and to spread cheer, luck and prosperity in the city.”

Mike Olley, general manager of Westside BID, said: “Birmingham is a wonderful and incredibly diverse city to be a part of and we are thrilled to commence these celebrations on Westside on the 1 February.”

Here’s a full list of the times and locations where the lion dance will take place in Birmingham on Tuesday 1 February:

·       8.30am – Centenary Square, ICC, Symphony Hall, Repertory Theatre, Birmingham Library, HSBC
·       9am – PWC
·       9.10am – Council House
·       9.20am – Centrick, Fleetmilne, St Phillip’s Cathedral
·       9.40am – Shakespeare Martineau, E&Y
·       10am – Children’s Hospital
·       10.30am – Bluecoat School
·       11am – Women’s Hospital
·       11.20am – QE Hospital
·       11.40am – University of Birmingham
·       12 noon – Royal Orthopaedic Hospital
·       12.30pm – Edgbaston cricket ground
·       12.45pm – Park View
·       1pm – Moseley Hall
·       1.30pm – Chinatown
·       2.15pm – Birmingham City FC
·       3pm – City Hospital
·       3.30pm – West Bromwich Albion