Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square are engulfed with oriental colour on the day of the Chinese New Year, along with the adjoining Chinatown district in London's Soho. This corner of London is awash with colour and festive with loud bangs as dragon dancers weave and dart among the crowd. But this is a varied event, and has in its recent past featured a cartoon show in Trafalgar Square, the Costume Parade Troupe from Beijing, bicycles disguised as the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac ridden by adults dressed as pandas, acrobats from Hunan, the Chinese Ballet Group from Beijing and the Peking Opera. Food stalls serve up traditional Chinese food throughout the celebration, whose highlight is the Grand Parade from Charing Cross Road to Trafalgar Square.

Times
TBC.