Lunar New Year is coming to Maidstone

On Sunday the 22nd of January, the Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year begins. Kent welcomes Lunar New Year with a festival in Maidstone town.

The events will take place next weekend at Jubilee square and Week street, Maidstone Kent on Saturday the 28th of January. The festival contains amazing Chinese Opera, Ribbon dance puppets, performances from dancing lions, SOAS Musical Ensemble and much more! 

This cultural event is expected to run from 11 am – 2 pm and has been in the works for months. The planning began as early as late summer to early autumn just to ensure all elements are perfectly in place for next Saturday.

The opening celebrations of the events will be held by the dancing Chinese lions who will be performing in the Maidstone town centre and Lockmeadow Entertainment Centre. 

Cohesion Plus produce many cultural and community festivals around Kent and worked in partnership with Maidstone Cultural Group on this particular one.  The Lunar New Year has been funded by Maidstone Borough Council, Cohesion Plus and Arts Council England.  

Planning a cultural festival of this scale can see challenges arise as Cohesion Plus aims for every event occurring at the festival to run smoothly on time and without mishap. Sonia explains “ When planning an outdoor event there are always challenges, with each event having its own complex needs. Funding is always a recurring theme for Lunar New Year, but we are committed to delivering culturally diverse events which represent and showcase the culture and arts of communities within the area”.

This year is the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese Zodiac and the Rabbit is considered to be the ‘luckiest’ of the twelve animals as it represents peace and longevity.

Come down to Maidstone to celebrate with us!