20 January 2025
Haymarket, Sydney’s vibrant multicultural hub, will become a hive of colour and activity in celebration of Lunar New Year from 29 January to 16 February. To mark this year, the Year of the Snake, a playful snake installation will greet visitors to Chinatown, with many celebrations and activities across the precinct.
For over 150 years, Haymarket has been the heart of Chinese culture in Sydney, and today, it proudly embraces a diverse tapestry of Asian cultures, all celebrating the Lunar New Year with unique traditions. With over 3000 businesses thriving within its borders, including Chinatown, Koreatown, and Thaitown, Haymarket offers a truly immersive experience of this significant cultural celebration.
Haymarket is also home to some of Sydney’s best Asian restaurants with venues joining in the celebration offering special dishes and banquets including:
- Royal Palace Seafood will offer an authentic Cantonese dining experience with yum cha and fresh, live seafood. They will also have boxes of house-made New Year cakes including rice cake, water chestnut cake, turnip cake and fried taro cake, perfect for gifting or enjoying with loved ones.
- Chinatown institution Emperor’s Garden will focus on traditional Chinese dishes and yum cha.
- Ho Jiak Haymarket will celebrate with their annual Lion Dance on 2 February, at 1pm. The prosperity toss salad, a Lunar New Year specialty, will be on offer featuring salad ingredients placed on the plate accompanied by a lucky saying. Together, guests at the table call out lucky sayings, culminating in a ‘prosperity toss’ at the end. It’s believed that the higher the toss, the more prosperous you will be.
Haymarket will also be home to a curated list of events happening throughout the celebration, including:
Snake installation on Dixon Street
In celebration of the Year of the Wood Snake in 2025, Haymarket HQ and award winning design studio Basalt Studios have created the installation titled “Snake Stroll on Dixon” featuring three playful snake sculptures – Parents and Child on a day out – locally crafted from sustainably sourced marine plywood and reusable materials. The parent snakes are each 8 metres long and 3.5 metres high, designed as charming blocks with cute faces with visitors invited to take a seat on the body of the snakes as they light up Dixon Street Mall. The yellow bellies and red bodies of the snakes are incorporated to symbolise prosperity and positivity in Asian culture. “Snake Stroll on Dixon” aims to foster candid connections among the community while honouring cultural traditions.
Date: Wednesday, 29 January – Sunday 16 February
Time: All day/night
Cost: Free
Address: Dixon Street Mall, Haymarket
City of Sydney – Sydney Lunar Streets – Haymarket Street Festival
Kick off Lunar New Year celebrations at Sydney Lunar Streets, the opening street party event of Sydney Lunar Festival 2025. There will be over 20 market stalls along Sussex St and Thomas St offering a range of Asian cuisines and specialty treats, along with a jam packed schedule of entertainment including lion dancers, dragon dancers and other cultural and contemporary music and performances.
Date: Saturday, 1 February
Time: 5pm – 10pm
Cost: Free
Address: Dixon Street, Chinatown and surrounds, Haymarket
Walking Tour: Chinatown street food and stories with Local Sauce Tours
Sydney’s Chinatown is full of history, secrets and excellent restaurants, and on this award-winning experience hosted by Local Sauce Tours, guests get to see and taste a bit of everything the precinct has to offer. The tour has a strong focus on uncovering Sydney’s long connection with China, and the contributions Chinese-Australians have made to the community.
Date: Fridays and Sundays, 11:30am to 2pm from Friday
Wednesday 29 January and 5 and 12 February from 6:30pm to 9pm
Cost: Adults $70 and children $60
Address: Starts at 108 Dixon Street, Haymarket
Walking tour: Behind your city with Soul of Chinatown
This walking tour, inspired by the exhibition Cao Fei: My City is Yours will lead participants through Chinatown’s bustling streets. Encounter the sites and sensations that artist Cao Fei experienced while developing the exhibition, including the now-closed Marigold yum cha restaurant, the jostling signage, the aroma of traditional Chinese herbal medicines, the buzz of market vendors, and more. “Behind your city” has been co-produced by Soul of Chinatown, a local non-profit organisation dedicated to revitalising Sydney’s Chinatown through storytelling, advocacy, events and community.
Date: Saturday 8 and 15 February
Time: 11-12.30pm
Cost: $28 general $25 concession $20 member
Address: Starts at City Mark Building (corner of George and Hay Streets)
Antivenom: Year of the Dragon Exhibition at 4A Centre for Contemporary Art
Antivenom draws on the characteristics of the Snake – wisdom, intuition and persuasion – leading to transformation. Antivenom features diverse and underrepresented Asian-Australian, Australian and Indigenous artists and collectives who reflect on personal experiences of discrimination, stigma and hate speech. Drawing on the scientific process of making antivenin, each artist transforms the harmful through creative intent to embody notions of self-affirmation through identity, sexuality, gender and the migrant experience – contributing to personal and collective healing. Throughout the exhibition, performances activate the space, celebrating diversity and the power of wisdom and creativity to help us shed our skins and begin the year anew.
Date: Wednesday-Sunday, Friday, 24 January – Sunday, 2 March
Time: 11am – 5pm
Cost: Free
Address: 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, 181-187 Hay Street, Haymarket
LET’S EAT Exhibition at Blank Gallery
‘LET’S EAT’ explores the significance of food and the deep-rooted traditions of communal dining within Asian cultures, especially during the Lunar New Year period. Across Asia, shared meals during this festive period symbolize unity, prosperity, and the renewal of familial and social ties. From the exchange of phrases like “开饭了!” (Time to eat!) in Chinese households, to the shared dishes that represent luck and abundance, this exhibition delves into the diverse yet interconnected ways in which dining together shapes identity and community. Through a mixed selection of mediums and artistic practice, ‘LET’S EAT!’ aims to create a sensory and immersive experience that captures the essence of these gatherings.Date: Thursday-Monday, Thursday, 16 January – Monday, 17 February
Time:11am – 5pm
Cost: Free
Address: 2F/17 Valentine Street, Haymarket
Chinatown Comedy Club at Covent Garden Hotel
See some of Australia’s best comedians at the Chinatown Comedy Club by Soul of Chinatown – the first comedy club ever to be located in Sydney’s Chinatown. Expect an action-packed and hilarious evening to celebrate the Year of the Snake 2025 at the historic Covent Garden Hotel right in the heart of Chinatown.
Date: Wednesday, 12 February
Time: 7.45pm-9.30pm
Cost: $18
Address: 1/102-108 Hay St, Haymarket
More information and bookings
Market City
Haymarket’s bustling dining and shopping destination, Market City is proud to bring a series of vibrant events to life in celebration of the Lunar New Year festival, with highlights including:
- High Pole Lion Dance Performances: Acrobatic lion dances will be performed by the spectacular Jin Wu Koon troupes on 3-metre-high poles in Centre Court, showcasing this ancient tradition. This free performance includes a giveaway of lucky red envelopes and Year of the Snake plush toys on Saturday 1 February at 2pm and 6pm and Sunday 2 February at 2pm.
- Exclusive Lunar New Year Dishes: The Dolar Shop Hot Pot and FUJI seafood restaurant will showcase bespoke dishes celebrating the Lunar New Year, available throughout the festival.
- Lucky Red Packet Giveaways: Over 5,000 red packets containing retail and dining vouchers, bespoke Year of the Snake tattoos, and gold chocolate coins will be distributed by the Lunar street crew. Thursday 23 – Friday 31 January.
- Kids Lion Dance Workshops: Little ones can get involved with Market City’s interactive lion dance workshops. Sessions will run at 2pm, 3pm, and 5pm on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 February.
- Chinese Calligraphy & Traditional Art Workshops: Daily workshops offer an immersive experience in Chinese culture for both kids and adults, through traditional calligraphy and art, 10-28 January, 31 January – 2 February, 7-8 February.
- Roaming Lion Dance Store Blessings: Jin Wu Koon’s troupe will bless stores across Market City with their roaming lion dance performance on Sunday, 2 February from 3:45-5pm.
- Lunar New Year Décor: Market City will be transformed with bespoke decorations, including custom-designed inflatable snakes in Centre Court and a towering display of neon signs featuring messages of health, wealth, and happiness.
Date: Wednesday 8 January to Sunday 16 February
Time: Various
Address: Market City, 13 Hay Street, Haymarket
Haymarket celebrates Lunar New Year with a giant snake installation and much more added by Indian newspaper Sydney on
View all posts by Indian newspaper Sydney →