Chinese New Year at World Square

Just when you thought all the New Year celebrations were done and dusted, those lunar calendar-following folk at Chinese New Year Festival are just getting started. The annual festival, bursting with free entertainment, art, food, tours, competitions and kids activities, is upon us once again and this time it's all about the rabbit.

"The Year of the Rabbit is really exciting," enthuses Gill Minervini, the festival's creative director. "This is the 12th festival that I've directed, so I've actually gone through every zodiac sign, and I think that the rabbit is the most exciting of all. It's a really happy, energetic, positive and free-thinking sign."

The festival's centrepiece, the Twilight Parade on Sunday 6 February, is where the significance of the sign is really explored. "We are able to have a lot of fun with this year's parade," says Minervini. "The tiger [the 2010 zodiac sign] was very strong, protective and aggressive, but this year there are lots of happy, just totally entertaining entries."

Traditionalists take note: Minervini and parade director Jerry Snell's take on the symbol is broad, contemporary and more than a little whimsical. "I was particularly interested in looking at the rabbit in both Western and Asian cultures, so we are doing a lot of blending of those. It's such an accessible and well-known animal in both cultures. We've been playing around with everything from Bugs Bunny to the rabbit in Chinese mythology."

Minervini and Snell are responsible for producing one third of the parade's entries. Another third is comprised of entries from Sydney's Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean communities and the final third comes courtesy of guest performers from the Chinese province of Hubei. "This will be the sixth year that we bring out performers to be part of the festival. We've had performers from Beijing, Guangdong and Henan in the past and it's great because each province has a distinctive cultural basis. The performers will be like nothing we've seen before."

Hubei is well known for wudang, the martial arts style made famous in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and that, along with the music, art, and aesthetics of the province, will be a key component of the parade.

In the festival's 15 years it has grown exponentially in size and is now sitting pretty as the largest celebration of the Lunar New Year outside Asia. "The huge interest reflects the population of Sydney and our place in Asia," says Minervini. "After the British settlers, the next wave of immigrants was the Chinese community in 1850 for the Gold Rush. This is one of Australia's oldest cultures and also one of the fastest growing communities. The festival is well placed to reflect that and is a great interpretation of Sydney's diversity." Erin Moy
 

CHINESE NEW YEAR 2011 EVENTS:

The First Emperor: China's Entombed Warriors, AGNSW, until Sun 13 Mar
Chinese New Year Markets, Belmore Park, Fri 28-Sun 30 Jan
Chinese New Year at Mahjong room, Mahjong Room, Sat 29 Jan-Sun 13 Feb
Tai Chi and Meditation in the Garden, Chinese Garden of Friendship, Sat 29-Sun 30 Jan, Sat 5 Feb, Sat 12-Sun 13 Feb, 10-11.45am
Year of the Rabbit Children's Day, Macleay Museum, Sun 30 Jan, 12-4pm
Brushed with Time, Craft NSW, Tue 1-Sun 27 Feb
Looking South, Art Atrium, Tue 1-Sat 19 Feb.
Billy Kwong banquet, Billy Kwong, Wed 2 Feb, 6.30 for 7pm
Chinese New Year at World Square, World Square Shopping Centre, Wed 2-Thu 10 Feb
Chinese New Year Customs, Customs House Library, Wed 2 Feb, 12.15-1pm
Shanghai Expo: The World in a City, Artspace, Thu 3 Feb, 6.30-8.30pm
Homage to the Ancestors, AGNSW, Fri 4 Feb-Tue 26 Apr
Chinese Film Festival, Event Cinemas - George Street, Sat 5-Mon 14 Feb
Chinese Film Festival - Opening Night Awards Ceremony, Event Cinemas - George Street, Sat 5 Feb, 6.30-10pm.
Chinese New Year at the Powerhouse Museum, Powerhouse Museum, Sat 5-Sat 12 Feb
Karen Choy Ceramics - Year of the Rabbit, Robin Gibson Gallery, Sat 5 Feb-Wed 2 Mar
The Peach Girl, Museum of Sydney, Sat 5 Feb, 2.30pm
Chinese New Year Twilight Parade, Around Sydney, Sun 6 Feb,7.45-9.45pm
Chinese Film Forum, University of Sydney, Tue 8 Feb, 2-3.30pm
From Canton with Courage, Customs House Library, Tue 8 Feb, 12.15-1pm
Bruce Lee, My Brother, Dendy Opera Quays, Wed 9 Feb, 6.30pm
Feng Shui, Customs House Library, Wed 9 Feb.
Mulan Acrobatics Show, The State Theatre, Thu 10-Sun 13 Feb
Chinese Garden Chamber Music Festival, Chinese Garden of Friendship, Fri 11-Sun 13 Feb
Chinese New Year decorations Craft Workshop, Customs House Library, Fri 11 Feb, 10.30am-12.30pm
Cinema Alley, Parker Street, Haymarket, Fri 11 Feb, from 7pm
Ultimo Pyrmont Chinese New Year Celebration, Quarry Green, Ultimo, 12.30-3pm
Chinese New Year Dragon Boat Races, Darling Harbour, Sat 12-Sun 13 Feb, 8am-5pm
New Year's Resolution - Artists in Conversation, Art Atrium, Sat 12 Feb, 2.30pm