Thousands of people turned up to the inaugural Lunar New Year Festival in Cahill Park, Wolli Creek to welcome the Year of the Snake.
The festival was hosted by Bayside Council in partnership with Aussie NightMarkets.
The Hon Linda Burney Member for Barton and the Hon Matt Thistlethwaite Member for Kingsford Smith joined Bayside Mayor Edward McDougall and Bayside Councillors to welcome guests and help open the festival by dotting the eyes of the lion.
It was a jam-packed evening with attendees enjoying amusement rides, market stalls, food trucks, vibrant cultural displays and traditional performances celebrating our multicultural community.
The historic St Magdelen's Chapel in Wolli Creek provided the perfect venue for local performer Shurui Lang and her ensemble who entertained the audience with classical Chinese arrangements featuring pipa players, violins and the guzheng.
Performances in St Magdelen's Chapel continued on Saturday evening when the Pure Traditional Korean Music Ensemble presented a selection of traditional and contemporary arrangements featuring the Daegeum (Korean bamboo flute), Gayageum (Korean zither) and the Haegeum (Korean fiddle).
Council has also been hosting a series of free cultural craft workshops as part of this year's Lunar New Year celebrations that will end on Friday 7 February with a Nagomi pastel painting workshop in the Rockdale Library.
Mayor Edward McDougall said:
"It is fantastic to see our community come together like this to enjoy our inaugural Lunar New Year Festival in Cahill Park, and welcome in the Year of the Snake.
"It is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the cultural wealth of our diverse, multicultural community that makes Bayside such an incredible place to live."
