Macclesfield celebrates Chinese New Year

Image: by Keith Townley.

The Chinese New Year was celebrated by  huge crown in Macclesfield town centre on Saturday 25th January.

 To welcome the Year of the Rat, Macclesfield Town Council, in partnership with Macclesfield Community Artspace, organised a dragon parade to set off from Market Place – followed by an event at the United Reformed Church.

The dragon was joined by the beautiful Ruby the Rat and Silky the Pig from last year’s celebrations to mark the year of the pig.

Prior to the parade, the Market Place crowds were entertained by the sounds of Tytherington School Mandarin class choir.

Leaving the Market Place, the parade wound its way to the United Reformed Church at Park Green – where everyone had the opportunity to taste authentic Chinese food, view Chinese inspired crafts – including shadow puppet making created by local schools and care homes, calligraphy – and were able to try on some authentic outfits 

Helena Gowler, Community Engagement and Events Officer for Macclesfield Town Council commented that “Once again, hundreds of people came out to enjoy Chinese New Year in Macclesfield. It was great to see so many people enjoying the parade despite the cold weather! Celebrating Macclesfield’s links with China is important to us and we couldn’t have done it without the help of all the organisations and volunteers involved.”