The Best Things to Do, See and Eat During Sydney Chinese New Year 2017

Eat bao in the sky, take a rickshaw tour of Chinatown and feast at Carriageworks' night market.

Concrete Playground
Published on January 27, 2017
Updated on January 29, 2017

Get ready for sensory overload — Chinese New Year is here. Time to fill the streets with fireworks and dancing lions while you alternate between inhaling incredible Asian cuisine and watching feats of strength at the Darling Harbour dragon boat races.

For the Year of the Rooster (a sign of fidelity and punctuality), the festival will be connecting you with the best of the Chinese creative world, including lunar markets, high-flying karaoke sessions, rickshaw jaunts, contemporary Chinese cinema, and feasting, feasting, feasting.

With so much to do and see, here are a few highlights from Sydney's Chinese New Year Festival you shouldn't miss.

Image: David Clare.

List

Map

Event
The Night Market at Carriageworks

Saturday, January 28, 2017
Carriageworks, Eveleigh

Welcome in the Year of the Rooster with some delicious delicacies.

Buy Tickets

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Event
Rickshaw Tales

Saturday, January 28 - Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Chinatown, Haymarket

Be pedalled around Chinatown in a rickshaw designed by artist Louise Zhang.

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Event
Chinese New Year on Kensington Street 2017

Saturday, February 4, 2017
Kensington Street, Chippendale

Watch dumplings being made, try your hand(s) at shadow puppetry and stuff yourself full of Kensington Street's finest food.

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Event
Chinese New Year Lunar Lantern Community Performances

Friday, January 27, 2017, Saturday, January 28, 2017, Friday, February 3, 2017 and Saturday, February 4, 2017
Sydney CBD, Sydney

See traditional dance performances in public places as part of Sydney's Chinese New Year celebrations.

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Event
One Tea Lounge Sky High Bao Bar

Friday, January 27 - Sunday, February 12, 2017
Sydney Tower Eye, Sydney

Fill up on bao high above the city at this Chinese New Year pop-up.

Buy Tickets

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Event
Lunar Markets 2017

Friday, January 27 - Sunday, February 5, 2017
Pyrmont Bay Park, Pyrmont

Celebrate Chinese New Year with bao, burgers and bubble tea.

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Event
Golden Koala Chinese Film Festival 2017

Thursday, February 2 - Monday, February 6, 2017
The University of New South Wales, Kensington

A celebration of Chinese film during the Chinese New Year.

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Event
Karaoke on the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Saturday, January 21 - Monday, March 6, 2017
Bridge Climb Sydney, The Rocks

How has no one thought of this before?

Buy Tickets

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Event
Fan Dongwang: Icons of Identity

Friday, January 20 - Saturday, February 18, 2017
541 Art Space, Sydney

Examine contemporary Chinese culture amid Australia’s syncretic national identity.

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Event
Dragon Boat Races 2017

Saturday, February 11 and Sunday, February 12, 2017
Cockle Bay Wharf, Sydney

Watch 3000 paddlers go for gold in Australia's largest dragon boat competition.

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