CHINESE LUNAR NEW YEAR OF THE PIG 2019

The Pig is the twelfth month of the Chinese Zodiac. Some say that Chinese Muslims put it last so that after reciting the previous eleven months, they did not have to recite the name of the Pig  because it is an unclean animal.

However for most Chinese the Pig represents luck, overall good fortune, wealth, honesty and general prosperity. A person born in the year of the Pig is regarded as hard working, peace loving, truthful, generous, patient, reliable, trusting, sociable, and with a large sense of humour and understanding.

The Sydney Chinese festival is hailed as the largest Chinese Lunar New Year festival  outside China. It has a huge range of events scattered throughout the Sydney area and has run since the beginning of February until the 23rd February.

As well as what takes place in the inner city area there is a huge Lunar New Year festival in Cabramatta.

I was only able to cover a few of these events but what i lacked in quantity was made up in spectacular quality.

The New South Wales Art Gallery kicked off the New Year early in the month by holding a Chinese themed evening to coincide with the opening of it new Chinese exhibit untitled Heaven and Earth. The evening had several highlights including a discussion involving  master chef Adam Liaw and Benjamin Law about the importance of the Pig in Chinese cooking.

This was followed by a recital by singer songwriter Sophie Koh of some of her Chinese themed compositions.

There were also demonstrations of the art of Chinese calligraphy and line dancing.

The big drawcard in the early part of the Festival was the display of huge Chinese inflatable animals of the Zodiac internally lit by lanterns placed around Circular Quay. The balmy summer evenings attracted throngs of people , including many families with young children enthralled by the light sculptures.

The latter part of the Festival moved to Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour with other lanterns  illuminating Chinese archways, cartoon characters of the Zodiac signs, many stalls, run by members of the Chinese community and cultural performances.  

Once again the sparkling Sydney weather brought out the crowds.

The Festival concludes on the 23rd February and by then many Chinese and non Chinese will have sampled an aspect of this wonderful Festival to which this year China has sent several cultural acts.   

Featured pic- Sophie Koh, Adam Liaw, Benjamin Law. All pics by Ben Apfelbaum.