Chinese New Year 2022 is on the horizon, and as always, Manchester has a whole week of celebrations lined up to mark the occasion.
While Manchester’s usual annual celebrations for Chinese New Year – also known as Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival – may be on a slightly smaller scale this year due to the COVID restrictions in place to allow visitors to safely enjoy the events, there’s still plenty happening across the city centre to help bring in the ‘Year of the Tiger’.
Chinese New Year is officially being celebrated in Manchester this year from Tuesday 1 – Sunday 6 February.
As mentioned, 2022 has been named the ‘Year of the Tiger’, and according to the Chinese zodiac, people born in this year are predicted to be brave, competitive, unpredictable, and confident – just like the animal.
To honour 2022’s animal namesake, a large-scale tiger art sculpture will take centre stage in St Ann’s Square as just one the events in the calendar.
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You may have also seen that thousands of red lanterns have started adorning the city’s streets, and you can also expect the chance to take in some spectacular live performances, feast on authentic street food, and a make the most of a funfair, plus some traditional lion and dragon dances over the course of the week too.
Here’s everything happening for Chinese New Year 2022 in Manchester.
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The New Year Tiger
St Ann’s Square
Tuesday 1 – Sunday 6 February 2022
New for 2022, commissioned by Manchester BID, and created by Decordia Events, this jaw-dropping installation will be a structural take on the traditional tiger made from wood and recycled corrugated plastic.
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While we know that the tiger is a symbol of power in Chinese culture and is considered to be brave and forceful, this origami-like tiger sculpture, however, will give the ultimate illusion to those who lay their eyes on it, as it appears to be weak and made of paper, but in fact, it will remain tall and strong for the world to see.
The tiger’s inner structure will also playfully-match the stripes and markings of a real-life tiger, casting stunning shadows at night with surrounding lights.
Chinatown Celebrations
Chinatown
Sunday 6 February 2022
The iconic Chinatown arch in Manchester city centre / Credit: Visit Manchester
While sadly, popular annual events such as the parade and the firework finale will not be taking place in 2022 due to COVID restrictions, there’s still plenty to make the most of in Manchester city centre’s very-own Chinatown.
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Think live performances, workshops, street food, stalls, and a funfair, as well as the illuminated Dragon, and other family-friendly activities such as traditional lion dances, Chinese acrobatics, singing, poem reading, and Kung Fu.
Performances will take place from 11am – 7pm in Chinatown Car Park, and you can see the illuminated dragon on the hour from 4pm – 7pm in Chinatown itself.
It’s asked that you please wear a mask when possible at all Chinatown events.
The Door Opened: 1980s China
Manchester Central Library
26 January – 26 April 2022
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The Door Opened: 1980s China at Manchester Central Library, with photographs by Adrian Bradshaw / Credit: Manchester Central Library
Brought to Manchester Central Library by the Confucius Institute at The University of Manchester, from 26 January – 26 April, English photographer Adrian Bradshaw’s exhibition The Door Opened: 1980s China will feature a blend of candid and posed photographs exploring China in the 1980s.
Bradshaw went to Beijing as a student in 1984 just as everyday life was in flux, and caught up in the ferment of the time, he went on to spend three decades documenting the transformation of China as the vast nation changed and opened up to the world.
Photographs captured document everything from opulent fashion extravaganzas, to sentimental family excursions, as he captures the fleeting beauty and simplicity of everyday life.
It’s described as a vivid record of a pivotal period in modern history.
Richard Ashcroft says Robin Park gigs could help make Wigan ‘a focal point in music’
Danny Jones
Manc music veteran Richard Ashcroft has big hopes for the upcoming season of live music at Wigan’s Robin Park, insisting that gigs like his self-titled double bill could help his hometown become “a focal point music for the first time in years”.
The former Verve frontman turned successful solo artist was speaking to host Anna Jameson on BBC Radio Manchester earlier this week when he explained just how big a deal this series of Wigan concerts could be for the area.
Beyond the likes of himself, his former band, The Lathums and Railway Children, to name just a few, there aren’t too many notable music names to have come out from the WN postcode – but that isn’t to say there isn’t plenty of talent and potential to do so.
Bigging up the borough as an “amazing place” that’s perhaps sometimes overlooked, he’s keeping his fingers crossed that Mancs and people from all over the region, including the local council, can “get right behind” the upcoming calendar of Wigan concerts to shine the spotlight on it once again.
As he goes on to tell Jameson, he envisions this going on to become a platform for new, up-and-coming artists not only from Wigan but across Greater Manchester, insisting that “there’ll be this week where young bands play venues, bigger bands come” and so on, giving grassroots something “to build to”.
Noting that the foundations have already been lain with this first lot of gigs, with the likes of fellow natives The Stanleys and Maxwell Varey named as two of Richard Ashcroft‘s warm-up acts this summer, alongside more well-known outfits like Cast and The Zutons.
In the middle of the pack, you also have rising Scouse stars Red Rum Club and The Royston Club from Wrexham, who are also making plenty of waves, so it looks like the groundwork is very much there.
There are a variety of other gigs at Robin Park as the area looks to emulate the early success seen from similar bookings over in Wythenshawe like Noel Gallagher’s headliner in 2023 and in Wigan later this year, as well as Blossoms’ mini-festival.
The 52-year-old believes his shows among the others at Robin Park this summer could leave a “legacy” and give something for people to look back on and remember it as a moment in which, “for the first time in years, Wigan became a focal point for music” in the North and across the country.
Speaking to ITV earlier this week also, the Britpop legend admitted that despite coming up in the same era as the likes of The Stone Roses and Oasis, not to mention in such close proximity, those figures always seemed “larger than life” but that it’s an honour to go back home on such a big scale.
It’s been over two and a half decades since he and The Verve played their iconic Haigh Hall gig to more than 33,000 locals and the two Robin Park gigs on 20-21 July are set to be on an equally massive scale.
You can still try and grab tickets and listen to the rest of his interview on BBC Sounds HERE.
Featured Images — BBC Radio Manchester/Ed Webster (via Flickr)
What's On
Manchester MMA star Tom Aspinall slams ‘unfair’ start times for UFC 304 at Co-op Live
Danny Jones
Local MMA star Tom Aspinall has come out to criticise the start times for UFC 304 here in Manchester, calling it ‘unfair’ for fans here in the UK.
In case you missed that rather big announcement, the UFC is returning to Manchester after nearly a decade and will be the very first sporting event held at the brand-new Co-op Live Arena, which is finally set to open this week following multiple delays (touch wood).
However, in an effort to keep broadcasters and the UFC‘s massive audience back in the US, the fight card will be starting until around 3am – and that’s at the very earliest.
Responding to the decision the Atherton-born and Salford-based fighter posted a video on his socials saying, “As a fan who wants to watch it live, I think it is absolutely terrible”.
He goes on to say that “it’s just not fair on the fans – the UK fans obviously. It’s predominantly an American audience so I understand that, they want to sell to them, but why can’t they sell to them in the afternoon which is our evening time?
While he admitted it “doesn’t make that much difference” to him as a fighter, the 31-year-old went on to ask, “Why can’t the American watch it in the afternoon and Manchester, the UK and European fans can all fly to the event and sell out this new arena?”
“I mean, it’s going to sell out regardless, mate”, Aspinall reiterated, adding that “we’re very lucky to have a pay-per-view event in Manchester” but that forcing the British audience and Mancs to watch something just down the road at a US-convenient time just doesn’t seem right.
There’s been plenty of backlash amongst MMA fans online too, with many stating that it simply goes to show that the UFC as an organisation “don’t care” about overseas supporters as much as they claim to.
As the current interim heavyweight champion, Aspinall will be right up at the top of the billing for UFC 304, which is the first time the event has been in the UK full stop since 2016.
We can only hope for similarly victorious scenes for the North West this July.
As for the shiny new venue, Co-op Live, after a fair few teething problems it looks like they are now on course to open just a week or so after the initial launch date. Not so bad.