Lunar Festival London

When the Lunar Festival London, a vibrant celebration of the Lunar New Year rooted in East Asian traditions and now a major public event in the capital. Also known as Chinese New Year London, it brings together communities from across the city to mark the start of the lunar calendar with lanterns, lion dances, and feasts. This isn’t just a cultural footnote—it’s one of London’s most lively annual gatherings, drawing over 500,000 people each year to streets lined with red decorations and the smell of dumplings sizzling on grills.

The festival isn’t limited to Chinatown. Over the past decade, it’s expanded into Trafalgar Square, where the Dragon Parade winds past the National Gallery, and into boroughs like Croydon and Sutton, where local families host community feasts and calligraphy workshops. You’ll find Lunar New Year events, organized by cultural associations, schools, and city councils to make traditions accessible to everyone. Also known as Asian festivals UK, these gatherings blend ancient customs with modern London life—think K-pop dancers alongside traditional erhu musicians, or AI-powered lantern projections on historic buildings. Meanwhile, Chinese New Year London, the most widely recognized name for the festival, anchors the event in its cultural origins while embracing the city’s diversity. Also known as Lunar Festival London, it’s where elders teach grandchildren how to make dumplings, and teens film TikToks of firecracker simulations outside the Chinese Cultural Centre. The event isn’t just about spectacle. It’s about connection—between generations, between cultures, and between people who might never have met otherwise.

What you’ll find in the posts below are real, unfiltered stories from people who live this festival—not just watch it. From the vendor who’s sold mooncakes in Soho for 32 years, to the schoolteacher who turned her classroom into a mini dragon parade, to the photographer capturing the first glow of lanterns over the Thames. These aren’t tourist brochures. They’re snapshots of what happens when tradition meets the pulse of a global city. You’ll learn where to find the best zongzi, how to join a drumming circle without knowing a single step, and why the lion’s eyes are painted in a very specific way. No fluff. No hype. Just what’s really happening on the ground during one of London’s most meaningful celebrations.