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The Year of the Tiger
Manchester Museum is celebrating Lunar New Year!
Tuesday 1 February marks the Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year or Spring Festival. It is celebrated at the second new moon following the Winter Solstice and marks the beginning of a long-awaited spring!
Lunar New Year is particularly celebrated in East Asia. It is also a feature of the Hindu-Buddhist calendars of South and Southeast Asia, and the Islamic and the Jewish calendars.
According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2022 is the Year of the Tiger.
Find out more and celebrate the Year of the Tiger with Manchester Museum and our partners across the city...
The Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Gallery
Manchester Museum is transforming, and we are now in the final phase of construction.
We will reopen later this year, and our new Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Gallery will be dedicated to building understanding and empathy between cultures.
Working closely with The Manchester-China Institute, local Chinese communities and organisations, this exciting new gallery will explore the rich cultural heritage and historic links between Manchester and China, showcasing rarely seen collections, powerful personal narratives and international research collaborations and partnerships, and will also include a gathering and activity space.
Join us for an online family workshop as we get crafty creating decorations to welcome the Year of the Tiger.
Create beautiful Chinese lanterns with artist Lydia Meiying.
This is a family activity, suitable for ages 7+ and accompanying parents or carers.
Spotlight on the Collection
Manchester Museum is currently closed to the public while we complete our hello future transformation. When we reopen, we look forward to welcoming you to a bigger, more inclusive and more wondrous museum.
Although our doors are temporarily closed, we are still here for you. Manchester Museum exists beyond a building. All our collections are all available online.
In celebration of Lunar New Year, Manchester Museum's Curators have selected some of their favourite Year of the Tiger themed objects...
Celebrate Lunar New Year across the city
New Year greetings in different dialects
from our friends at XCA (Manchester Chinese Association)
The streets of Manchester city centre are once again adorned with thousands of traditional red Chinese lanterns to welcome in the Year of the Tiger.
Organisers of the Chinese New Year events this year have confirmed that the parade, sadly, will once again not be going ahead in 2022 due to Covid restrictions. However, there are still plenty of celebrations taking place in Manchester, including live performances, street food and a funfair, plus traditional lion and dragon dances.
Please keep yourself and others safe, don’t attend if you have any COVID-19 symptoms and please wear a mask when possible.
Find out more at Visit Manchester
Here are some of our top picks...
St Ann’s Square, Manchester
A friendly Tiger watches over
St Ann’s Square.
1-6 February 2022
Chinatown, Manchester
Celebrate Chinese New Year in Chinatown with live performances, food, stalls and a funfair.
6 February 2022, 11am-8pm
The Door Opened: 1980s China - Photographs by Adrian Bradshaw
Manchester Central Library, Manchester
English photographer, Adrian Bradshaw, explores 1980s China.
26 January - 26 April 2022
Chinese New Year at the Portico Library
The Portico Library, Manchester
Explore rare nineteenth-century books and illustrations on Chinese culture from the extraordinary historic collection, view 200-year-old maps of Chinatown and enjoy free creative activities.
5-6 February 2022, 11am-3pm
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Chinese New Year Film Season at HOME
HOME, Manchester
To mark the arrival of the Year of the Tiger, HOME is collaborating with the Confucius Institute and Chinese Film Forum UK.
3-6 February 2022, various times
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Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester
Pick up a free sketch book and explore Manchester Art Gallery.
6 February 2022, 11am-3pm
Horizons New Year 2022 - Shoots Scratch Night
The Lowry, Manchester
To celebrate the Lunar New Year, the Lowry has teamed up with a collective north west based British East Asian and South East Asian creatives, theatre makers, artists, visual artists and more from Horizons Collective.
SHOOTS is an evening dedicated to the development of ideas; it’s a chance for artists to put early work in front of an audience, to see if it has legs. It’s about throwing an idea at the wall and seeing if it sticks; it’s about now rather than never; it’s about the spit, without the polish.
You might be seeing the early beginnings of ideas that might one day turn into fully formed pieces.
Tickets are £5, and there will be an opportunity for post-presentation feedback.
4 February 2022, 8pm