Lunar Festival celebrations promise 28 days of food, culture and art

(Photo Credit Tataki Auckland Unlimited).
Vineeta Rao
Auckland, January 22, 2025
If the post-holiday hangover is getting you down, Auckland Council is set to bring some excitement back to the City Centre with 28-day Lunar Festival Celebrations announced.
The Festival celebrate the food and cultural traditions of Asian Aucklanders from 26th January to 22nd February.
According to the 2023 census, 31.% of Aucklanders identify as Asian, which is a 17.1% increase since 2018. The term ‘Asian,’ is often used homogeneously by New Zealanders to define a whole continent. In actuality, it encompasses 48 countries and many cultures.
Pan-Asian Culture
The Lunar Festival aims to showcase and celebrate the cultures of specifically Southeast Asia, including countries like China, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea. Auckland Council Lunar New Year Festival Director Eric Ngan said that the City’s growing pan-Asian population is an asset and that young Asian Kiwis are proud of their roots, enjoy life in this city, and continue to creatively evolve their traditions.
“The tradition of sharing time and food is as strong as ever in the weeks of Lunar New Year. The metaphors that speak to the phases of the Moon – change, brightness, and wholeness – are reflected in the nature of our Lunar New Year celebrations, such as family reunion dinners, striving for harmony and an aspirational future,” he said.
The Festival will hopefully entice Aucklanders back to the CBD where barricades, dug-up footpaths and constant construction have kept them away. Business owners have raised concerns over the impact of construction and roadworks since 2023, claiming that revenues are down by 70%. Heart of the City Council Chief Executive Viv Beck indicated that more microgrants to affected businesses would be made available in 2025 and 2026. Indian Newslink will follow up on this story as it unfolds and keep you updated.

(Photo Supplied by Auckland Council)
Chinese Exhibition
The Council’s plans to get more footfalls to the city centre while also celebrating one of their largest migrant groups has resulted in several interesting events announced, the most exciting of which is the ‘Chubby Women’ exhibit by Chinese artist Xu Hongfei.
A series of lovely, light-hearted sculptures of voluptuous women, the exhibit is meant to embrace body positivity and confidence and has been widely appreciated by critics and the public alike, around the world. Another highlight, especially for the superstitious, will be a three-meter-high figurine of the famous Lucky Cat at Aotea Square, which purportedly brings the beholder good luck. Given the way 2024 went the Lucky Cat statue should be very popular with selfie-takers! Darby Street will be festooned with neon red Lucky Cats while the light boxes on Freyberg Square and Bledisloe Lane will display Asian art. There will also be a Bao and Boba promotion designed to increase engagement between Aucklanders and businesses in the City Centre.
Asian Street Festival
February 1 will see the transformation of Te Hā o Hine (Khartoum Place) and Lorne Street into an exciting Asian Street Festival, complete with crews engaged in street dance battles or popup Tai Chi classes. Asian food ambassadors will discuss the history of traditional dishes for foodies who enjoy food for the palate as well as the mind. If you are a K-pop fan, head to the Ellen Melville Center for some mesmerising performances and workshops.
Tung Tek Lion dancers will hold fort at the Auckland Art Gallery while dragon dancers, mahjong workshops, traditional instrument buskers, local Asian musicians like DJ Edy and guitarist Sam Nakamura will add to the mix, making Auckland CBD the place to be, at least for the next 28 days.
Please see the full Lunar New Year programme at OurAuckland.
In addition to the Council-organised Lunar Festival, the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) has also announced their annual Lantern Festival from 13th to 16th February at the Manukau Sports Bowl. The celebration this year is expected to be one of the largest lantern festivals in the world, ushering in the year of the snake with over 40 food stalls, craft and curio stalls and live performances. The grand finale will see two days of spectacular fireworks. The event will be a ticketed one although tickets are free. Please visit the following link for more information https://www.aucklandnz.com/lantern
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Vineeta Rao is an Indian Newslink Reporter based in Auckland.