Chinese New Year Markets

Haymarket's Belmore Park will be transformed into an authentic Asian market during the final weekend of January. More than 50 stalls will be cooking up a huge selection of Asian foods, with others selling Chinese New Year decorations, Asian produce and traditional arts and crafts.

Grab some food and find a picnic spot, because there's a huge line-up of free traditional and contemporary entertainment taking place over the course of the weekend. Kicking things off on the Friday night is the official launch of Sydney's festival celebrations. Firecrackers are set off to scare away the bad luck of the previous year and a traditional eye-dotting ceremony brings dancing lions to life before they take over the marketplace with a traditional lion dance to usher in good luck for the Year of the Rabbit.

Later in the evening, learn from the experts during Asian cooking demonstrations and watch on as performers from the Chinese province of Hubei will perform demonstration of Wudang, the martial art made famous in the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Following its success at the 2010 celebrations, the City of Sydney's Live Green House will make an encore appearance at this year's markets. Make your way through the interactive urban home to learn about green inner-city living during sustainability workshops given in both Mandarin and English.

If you're a karaoke fan, we suggest camping out at the market big screen. In the lead up to Chinese New Year, karaoke bars in and around the Haymarket area have been hosting heats of the annual Chinese New Year Karaoke Competition and the finalists will take to the market stage to battle it out for the top spot in front of the big screen. The big screen will also host a line-up of contemporary Asian cinema and top DJs will keep the market pumping once the sun goes down. Erin Moy