More than one million visitors enjoyed more than 70 events during Sydney’s Chinese New Year Festival, confirming its stature as the largest and most successful outside Asia.
The festival’s highlight event, the inaugural Lunar Lanterns, featured over 1,000 local performers and attracted more than six times the visitor numbers previously associated with the City’s Twilight Parade.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said it was wonderful to see the huge response to a festival that started as a small community event in Chinatown 20 years ago.
“With our city centre being transformed, we took the opportunity to introduce a new, revitalised program that would be bigger and better than ever before, keeping the spirit of the community festival alive,” the Lord Mayor said.
“I’m delighted that so many visitors and Sydneysiders from so many cultural backgrounds enjoyed the spectacular Lunar Lanterns and dozens of events across the city to welcome the Year of the Monkey.
“From its simple beginnings two decades ago, Sydney Chinese New Year has become one of our city’s most important events, attracting huge numbers of international and interstate visitors. This wonderful community celebration encourages more people to explore the city, supports local restaurants and retailers, and showcases a stunning variety of performances and cultural events.”
Sydney’s 2016 Chinese New Year Festival highlights include:
- More than a million visitors to more than 70 events over 16 days (an increase of 67% on last year);
- More than 735,00 visitors enjoyed the Lunar Lanterns;
- More than 22 hours of live performances by 1,000 performers took place, with 38 groups performing over five nights at the Lunar Lanterns, and community participants aged 3 to 90;
- 331 businesses attended the City’s Future Asia Business Summit, up 170% from last year;
- From the Opera House to Chinatown, 40 restaurants across the city participated in Lunar Feasts, an increase from 30 in 2015;
- More than 3,000 paddlers took part in the largest dragon boat racing competition in the southern hemisphere;
- Chinatown’s five-metre-high goat lantern was created and gifted to Sydney by sister city Guangzhou as part of this year’s sister cities’ 30th anniversary celebrations;
- Since 1996, the City has produced 110 events for the festival, supported more than 670 associated events and hosted 11 delegations from China to be part of the celebrations.
Hundreds of participants from Sydney’s Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese communities, as well as international performers from China, took part in more than 22 hours of live performances at five of the main lanterns: the Ox in Martin Place; the Tai Chi Rabbits at Customs House Forecourt; the Dragon at Dawes Point; the Goat in Chinatown and the Tiger at the QVB forecourt.
The City’s largest ever sponsorship was established with Principal Partner Westpac, helping turn the Sydney Opera House sails red, along with the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Circular Quay Station and Sydney Town Hall from 6–8 February.
Martin Place visitors enjoyed the Westpac Lunar Lantern Hub, featuring the Monkey Shoulder Whisky Bar and outdoor Mahjong lounge under a canopy of hundreds of red lanterns.
The City collaborated with Carriageworks to produce a Korean pop concert with boy bands, JJCC and Boyfriend.
The festival’s Charity Partner, Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, raised more than $70,000 during the festival, making it the most successful charity partner relationship in the event’s history.
And there was an increase in Lunar New Year celebrations across Sydney with retail and business partner events, including the Powerhouse Museum, Australia China Business Council, Westfield Sydney, Queen Victoria Building, The Galeries and World Square.
For the first time in the festival’s 20-year history, a Chinese New Year Festival curator and a new panel of experts advised on cultural, business and tourism opportunities for the festival. The new panel included members from Chinese community groups, cultural organisations, business groups, sporting associations, retail, hospitality and tourism sectors and creative industries in the local area.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports the number of Chinese visitors has more than doubled over the past five years and Sydney Airport expected up to 430,000 Chinese nationals to arrive during the Lunar New Year period.
According to Tourism Australia, Chinese tourism was expected to generate between $7.4 billion and $9 billion a year by 2020 but new estimates suggest this could top $13 billion.
View the 2016 Sydney Chinese New Year Festival video.
For media inquiries: City of Sydney Senior Publicist Elaine Kelly 0477 362 550 or ekelly@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
For interviews with Lord Mayor Clover Moore: Paul Mackay 0432 182 647 or email pmackay@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au