Campsie’s Anzac Mall and Anzac Square will be lit up by a sea of colourful lanterns and filled with an array of Asian cuisines and cultural entertainment on Saturday 8 February, from 5-9.30pm, to mark the end of the Lunar New Year season.

Returning to the festival with the Yunnan Arts Troupe, Bo Yang, said his group will be bringing the cultural traditions of China’s ethnic minority groups to the stage through diverse dances, costumes and musical instruments.

“Performing on stage provides a valuable platform through which we can teach the audience about our diverse cultural identities,” Mr Yang said.

For Mr Yang, the Lantern Festival symbolises reunion, happiness and the good life.

“It’s a time for us to cherish and express our affection to our families and pursue wisdom and the arts. Personally, I love when the firecrackers go off as it makes me feel like I’m at home for the New Year.”

Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Bilal El-Hayek said the lantern festival is a special way to end our City’s Lunar New Year celebrations.

“More than 70,000 people in our community come from Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean ancestry and it is only fitting that we share in their beautiful culture,” Mayor El-Hayek said.

“I encourage everyone to join us in celebrating both the Year of the Snake and our wonderful Asian community.”

Visitors can expect to see a jam-packed program of on-stage entertainment featuring traditional fan veil ribbon dancers, taiko drummers, lion dancing and a firecracker display.

The Campsie Catwalk will showcase traditional Chinese costume and lanterns. There’ll also be an opportunity to meet the lit up ‘lantern lady’ and collect a lucky red envelope from the God and Goddess of Fortune.

The little ones can get involved in a variety of free activities including face painting and lantern making workshops.

And there’ll be plenty of mouth-watering foods to try including Korean corn dogs, Japanese pizzas, delicious dumplings and new year noodles.

Mr Yang said the Year of the Snake symbolises love, wealth and wisdom.

“My advice to people that were born in the Year of the Snake is that they should wear something red every day of the year to ensure they have good luck!”

For more information about the Campsie Lantern Festival, visit wih.city/CampsieLanternFestival

This event is proudly sponsored by Western Union and SBS.