London Lunar New Year: Celebrations, Events, and Cultural Highlights

When the Lunar New Year, a major cultural and seasonal festival celebrated across East and Southeast Asia, marking the start of the lunar calendar year. Also known as Chinese New Year, it’s one of the most vibrant and widely observed events in London’s multicultural calendar. The city transforms. Streets light up with red lanterns, drums echo through Chinatown, and families gather for feasts that honor tradition, luck, and new beginnings. This isn’t just a cultural footnote—it’s a living, breathing celebration that draws over half a million people each year, making it one of the largest Lunar New Year events outside Asia.

London’s Lunar New Year isn’t confined to one neighborhood. While Chinatown, London’s historic center for Chinese culture and cuisine, located in the West End buzzes with lion dances and market stalls, the main parade routes stretch from Piccadilly to Trafalgar Square, where stages host martial arts demos, dragon performances, and live music from across Asia. Communities from Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia, and beyond add their own customs—making it a true pan-Asian festival. You’ll find Vietnamese bánh chưng, Korean tteokguk, and Malaysian durian treats all in one day. The event is organized by local cultural associations, supported by the City of London, and free for everyone to attend.

What makes it special isn’t just the spectacle—it’s the authenticity. Unlike commercialized holidays, this is a celebration rooted in generations of family rituals. Elders give red envelopes filled with money to children. Homes are cleaned to sweep away bad luck. Firecrackers (or their safe, modern substitutes) are set off to scare off evil spirits. And in London, you’ll see schoolkids wearing traditional hanbok, teenagers filming lion dancers on TikTok, and grandparents teaching grandchildren how to use chopsticks properly. It’s a rare moment where heritage isn’t performed for tourists—it’s lived, passed down, and proudly shared.

Behind the scenes, local businesses, temples, and community centers spend months preparing. The Chinese Community Centre in Barnet, the Korean Cultural Centre in Kensington, and the Vietnamese Association in Croydon all run workshops, calligraphy classes, and temple open days leading up to the big day. These aren’t tourist attractions—they’re community pillars. And if you’ve ever wondered how a city with no lunar calendar tradition becomes a global hub for this celebration, the answer is simple: London’s Asian communities didn’t wait to be invited. They built it themselves.

What you’ll find below is a curated collection of stories that go beyond the parade route. From the chefs who make traditional dishes from scratch to the volunteers who carry 20-foot dragons through rainy streets, from the designers creating modern lantern art to the families who’ve celebrated Lunar New Year in London for over 50 years—this isn’t just about what happens on one day. It’s about how culture grows, adapts, and thrives in a global city. Whether you’re planning to attend for the first time or you’ve been coming for decades, these posts will help you see the heart behind the fireworks.