We love to bring new experiences to Biddulph, to increase awareness of different cultures.
We worked with Outside Arts and secured funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to bring the first Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations to the High Street on Saturday 25 January 2025, celebrating 2025 as the year of the snake in the Chinese zodiac.
The snake is the sixth animal in the twelve year zodiac cycle and is an important motif in Chinese mythology, associated with traits such as wisdom and intuition. The year is considered to be a time for reflection and transformational skin shedding, offering opportunities for personal growth, creativity and change.
People born in the year of the snake are believed to be intelligent and graceful.
The traditional gift of Chinese new year red envelopes were given to visitors. The vibrant red colour symbolises good fortune and joy. Giving red envelopes is a way to send good wishes and luck.
We’d like to say a big thank you to:
Brimstone the Dragon – a six metre long giant roaming theatrical dragon puppet experience, commissioned by the Outside Arts project, and performed by the Autin Dance Theatre.
Yoyo and Lola Yau – who performed a variety of traditional Chinese folk music on a pipa, a four-stringed Chinese guitar/lute. The pipa has been played for two thousand years in China.
Amber Ho-Pike’s Tai Chi Group – who gave a demonstration of the traditional Chinese practice of tai chi, using balls to help with simple and easy exercise moves, involving slow movements, gentle stretching, breathing and meditation.
Funki Feathers Chinese Lion Dance – who performed routines choreographed to show their skill, dexterity and strength. The lion dance is a loud and colourful demonstration of traditional Chinese culture, enacted to scare away evil spirits and to bring good luck, health and prosperity.
Chinese Christian Fellowship – who sang the Chinese new year songs Gong Xi Gong Xi and He Xin Nian.
Biddulph Chinese – for providing Chinese food samples.
Biddulph Yarnbarms – for producing the fabulous dragon post box topper and the snake outside the Town Hall.
Here’s some of the lovely feedback we’ve received:
‘Thank you for making Biddulph such a vibrant community that we feel proud to live in. Well done everyone.’
‘Great event, lovely to have something different brought to the town.’
‘It was fabulous for something different in the town, we definitely need more stuff like this.’
‘We had a fantastic time, congratulations to all involved for putting on such a wonderful day.’
‘We as a family really enjoyed celebrating Chinese New Year, seeing the dragon was so much fun for the kids – thank you.’
‘Well done and congratulations on a fabulous event that brought colour and warmth to a January day. Thank you to everyone who made it possible.’
‘Well done – not an average day on Biddulph High Street. Great way to open the community to different cultures.’
‘Big well done to all those involved. So much work has gone into this and it was much appreciated. We travelled from Buxton and it was worth the trip.’
And here’s some photos:
