Top places to celebrate Chinese New Year in the Midlands and Shropshire
The Year of the Rooster is right around the corner, and people are preparing to celebrate Chinese New Year on January 28.
Here is the Midlands and Shropshire, there are plenty of events to celebrate the final countdown to Chinese New Year:
Chinese New Year Festival - Multiple locations, Birmingham
Birmingham is set to welcome Chinese New Year in style as this years' jam-packed schedule of activities featuring show-stopping lion dances to swinging acrobatics, oriental street food to traditional lantern making.
With last year's event attracting more than 25,000 visitors, the 2017 celebration hopes to draw in double this, with two stages located on Hurst Street and at the Arcadian creating the main focus points.
At 12.00pm, the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Carl Rice, will take to the main stage to welcome visitors to the festival and officially kick off this years' celebration.
Performances will include traditional lion and dragon dancers from Choy Lee Fut Martial Arts, in addition to a demonstration from Praying Mantis Kung Fu Club.
At 12.30pm, the Bai Ling Acrobats Troop will be showcasing Chinese opera face changing, acrobatic dancing, Chinese magic, and their own lion and dragon dances.
Patrick Centre on Thorp Street as they will be offering free workshops for children throughout the day from 11.30am to 4.00pm with Chinese calligraphy, lantern or mask making and more.
Proceedings will start to wrap up at 3.45pm with the final lion and dragon dances, complete with firecrackers to ward off evil spirits.
Activities will also be taking place at the Arcadian, Hippodrome Square, the Genting Arena and Birmingham Airport.
Chinese New Year Festival - Birmingham Hippodrome
Head over to Hippodrome Square to witness some of RoguePlay's finest entertainment and family workshops for Chinese New Year.
Entertainment includes a fire act, silk acts and a hoop routine in traditional costume.
Enjoy traditional Chinese music, lion dancers, acrobats, martial artists as well as traditional market stalls selling their wares and some family workshops in the Patrick Centre studio with a Lego workshop to create a Chinese Arch, mask making, lantern making and a Minecraft workshop to build your very own version of Chinese New year.
Chinese New Year Festival - Arcadian Centre, Birmingham
Head over to the Arcadian and delve into a vast array of Chinese street food as well as face painting and live music.
With dumplings to symbolise wealth, sweet rice balls to represent family reunions and clementine's to ensure good luck and fortune in the year ahead, the day is set to be full of fun and indulgence.
Chinese New Year Special - Chung Ying Garden Cantonese, Birmingham
Expect Cultural Speakers, Chinese Food, wine, a raffle for fabulous prizes and some special Chinese themed games at Southside Social's Chinese New Year Special.
Tickets range from £10 to free and are subject to registration
Chinese New Year -Tin House Restaurant, Wellington
At the Tin House restaurant, on The Parade in Wellington, the fun will last for four nights, starting on Chinese New Year and running until January 31.
Fireworks and food will be the centrepiece of an evening of celebrations on January 29, an event that has been a sell-out every year since it was first started.
Shropshire Chinese New Year - Multiple locations, Newport
The streets of Newport will be transformed with more than 50 stalls to celebrate Chinese New Year.
Dancing, singing and traditional Chinese celebrations will be on offer throughout the day.
The businesses in Newport are getting into the spirit of the event with competitions, food themes and special promotions.
Chinese New Year Extravaganza - Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
Come and see the magic unfold as Chinese New Year returns to the Grand Theatre with a show of cultural spectacle to welcome the start of the Year of the Rooster on February 12.
Chinese New Year Extravaganza features a team of performers showcasing Chinese performing arts. From the cheerful spirit of the Lion Dance, to mind-bending contortion the show is a colourful display of Chinese cultural tradition.
The show also includes daring stunts from Chinese acrobatics alongside elegant Chinese dance, energetic kung fu performance, a highly skilled puppeteer that can perform the ancient magic of Face Changing and more.
Chinese New Year Party - Golden Orient, Stafford
Join the Golden Orient Buffet Restaurant for a night of live music, a Lion Dance, games and lots of great prizes to be won in celebration of the Chinese New Year.
Tickets range from £2.88 to £20.88 with food included in the price.
Festival of Spring - ICC, Birmingham
Birmingham ICC is opening Hall 1 for an evening of performances celebrating Chinese culture.
From martial arts, traditional dances, Tai Chi and even magic traditional Chinese performers will bring this unique event to Birmingham.
By Becci Stanley
