Starting with Bankstown Lunar New Year on Saturday 7 February and ending with Campsie Lantern Festival on Saturday 28 February, experience the vibrant sights, tastes and sounds of these twilight gatherings.
This year we mark the Year of the Horse, which gallops forward with vitality, passion and swiftness, promising a period of daring adventure and spirited discovery.
The scent of mouth-watering Asian cuisines will fill the air, prepared by local favourites like Yan’s Dumplings & Noodle Bar, Madura Satay (Halal Indonesian BBQ skewers), Mrs Wang’s Dumplings and Skewiies (Asian street food truck).
As you savour the delicacies at food stalls, enjoy traditional dancers and singing, lucky envelopes from the God and Goddess of Good Fortune, roaring lion and dragon dancers, dazzling Chinese firecrackers and free activities for all ages,including craft workshops and facepainting.
EVENT DETAILS
Bankstown Lunar New Year
Saturday 7 February, 4-9pm
Griffith Park, Olympic Parade, Bankstown
What else to expect:
- Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean singers, dancers and artistic performances
- The Lunar New Year Garden featuring bonsai displays and Thư Pháp Ngày Xuân (Lunar New Year calligraphy)
- Giant-sized Chinese chess pieces to play XiangQi, a traditional board game
Campsie Lantern Festival
Saturday 28 February, 5-9:30pm
Anzac Park and Anzac Mall, Campsie
What else to expect:
- Glowing lanterns lighting up the sky at dusk
- Yunnan Arts Troupe and their “Campsie Catwalk”, a traditional Chinese costume and lantern showcase
- Roving entertainment from the captivating Lantern Lady
With upwards of 70,000 residents of Chinese and Vietnamese ancestry calling our City home, Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Bilal El-Hayek said Lunar New Year is a much-cherished annual event and, indeed, a cornerstone cultural gathering in NSW.
“We’re expecting around 20,000 people across both of our 2026 Lunar New Year celebrations,” Mayor El-Hayek said.
“These festivities are a unique way to connect with the traditions and beliefs of our Asian community while enjoying family-friendly entertainment and delicious traditional food items.”
“We’re one of the only councils in NSW to mark both the beginning and the end of this special time in the lunisolar calendar so I hope to see many attend in the spirit of reconciliation, peace and renewal.”
Julie Thom O’Hara, VietAus Little Stars group secretary (performing at Bankstown Lunar New Year):
“Through performance, we aim to connect our talented group of children to their heritage, and to build on their creativity, resilience and self-confidence.”
Bo Yang, Yunnan Arts Troupe director (performing at Campsie Lantern Festival):
“Campsie Catwalk is a community-based performing arts group that showcases the cultural traditions of ethnic minority groups of China, particularly the Yunnan Province,” Bo Yang said.
“Our act includes traditional dances and music from Kazakh, Dai, Jinpo, Miao, Han, Mongolian and Wa people; an instrumental performance on the gourd flute; and a colourful catwalk of diverse traditional costumes.”
“This year, we will be performing the Kazakh dance “Kara Jorga”, which translates to “Black Horse” and represents the movements of horse riding.”
