Liverpool Chinese New Year 2025: Full details as 'festival of sound, fun and colour' returns to city

Liverpool is gearing up for a festival of ‘sound, fun, colour and confetti’ in celebration of the Lunar New Year, which falls on January 29.

The festivities will feature the traditional dragon, lion, unicorn parades, firecracker displays and family workshops, and symbolic Chinese lanterns will adorn the city. Iconic buildings, including St George’s Hall, will once again be lit up red as Liverpool celebrates the Year of the Snake.

A stunning willow snake sculpture will appear in the water feature near the Liverpool tourist sign, commissioned by Liverpool ONE and created by artist Sarah Gallagher from Twigtwisters. The sign has also been decorated to mark the occasion, and the hearts located at Royal Albert Dock Liverpool will also get a Year of the Snake makeover.

The main Chinatown takeover will take place from 11.00am to 5.00pm on February 2, and the special event will also commemorate the 25th anniversary of the iconic Chinese Arch gifted to the city in 2000.

Secretary General of Liverpool Chinese Business Association, Ming Wang, said: “As we bid farewell to the Year of the Dragon, we welcome the Year of the Snake – a time which signifies good fortune, prosperity, fertility and longevity.

“As always, our local Chinese community, Culture Liverpool, and other organisations have worked tirelessly together to arrange a series of arts and cultural events for everyone to enjoy. This is a festival of sound, fun, colour and confetti with a packed diverse programme of free events for children and adults to enjoy. Please come and join the celebrations.”

As well as the main celebration on Sunday, February 2, a whole host of activities and fun will take place in the lead up to the Lunar New Year. Full details can be found below.

Chinese New Year in Liverpool 2025

• From Monday, January 20, thousands of symbolic Chinese lanterns will begin to adorn the city centre streets around Chinatown, Liverpool ONE and Royal Albert Dock Liverpool, and from the beginning of February, and a number of buildings, including Liverpool Town Hall and St George’s Hall, will be illuminated in red.

• On Saturday, January 25, the Liverpool Hung Gar Kung Fu Friendship Association, Pagoda Arts and award-winning dance company Movema will lead a parade through the city centre, joined by members of the Chinese community and young people from In Harmony and the Shanghai Children’s Palace Orchestras. Incorporating a street theatre piece with colourful Beijing opera-style costumes and stilt walkers, the parade will start at midday on Church Street, leading on to Paradise Street in Liverpool ONE before heading to the Royal Albert Dock Liverpool.

• A small number of family-friendly activity workshops and craft stalls will take place in Chinatown on Saturday, February 1. This programme will offer a quieter alternative to Sunday’s main proceedings, without firecrackers and loud music performances.

• Projections inspired by Chinese mythology and Liverpool’s cultural heritage will take over the Bombed Out Church (St Luke’s) on the evening of February 1 and 2, from 5.30-9.00pm. The work has been created by immersive projection experts Focal Studios in collaboration with Pagoda Arts and the local community. There will also be a number of family activities across the weekend at the location, as well as a vibrant wildflower art installation, created by volunteers and school children using upcycled plastic bottles.

• The city’s main celebrations will take place from 11.00am to 5.00pm on Sunday, February 2, and will see the return of the much-loved Chinatown takeover - which includes traditional dragon, lion and unicorn parades around Great George Square, firecracker displays, family workshops and a host of live performances. Plus this year there will be a special finale, courtesy of performers Bring the Fire.

• This year’s Lunar New Year Dragon and Lion parade will begin at 11.15am on February 2 and finish at around 3.30pm. The Unicorn parade is scheduled to begin at 12.15am, ending at 4.00pm. Both fun-filled parades will take place around Chinatown and Liverpool city centre.