Top Picks
Guides
What’s on
Where to go
See all

Chinese New Year in Manchester

Creative Tourist

Chinese New Year is always a colourful cultural highlight, bringing brightness to the dark winter days here in the UK. This is especially true for a city like Manchester, whose Chinatown buzzes all year round but becomes a hive of activity and celebration come New Year.

Welcoming the Year of the Snake, 2025 marks the return of the legendary Dragon Parade to Manchester City Centre alongside all of the usual Chinatown celebrations. Vibrant and cheerful, thousands of red lanterns decorate the city’s trees while the dragon snakes its way through the streets along with traditional Lion and Ribbon dances and 12 Zodiac animals and ancient army characters.

And there’s loads more going on in arts and cultural venues around the city, including dedicated dance performances, free family events and arts workshops where you can get creative and learn new skills. The celebration also presents a great opportunity to stop for a bite to eat in one of the city’s best Chinese restaurants before soaking in the festivities.

Here are our top picks of those, as Manchester prepares to ring in the Lunar New Year.

Our top picks

Manchester Central Library

Manchester Central Library, St Peter's Square, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M2 5PD - Visit now

Head to Manchester Central Library from 11:00 to 4:00pm on 1 and 2 February for a spectacular celebration of the Year of the Snake. Bringing together Eastern and Western traditions, this family-friendly event includes The Hanfu Show, where local performers will showcase the elegance of traditional Chinese clothing while offering a glimpse into the rich cultural heritage of China.

Find out more
Manchester Central Library
Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Sweet Mandarin

Sweet Mandarin, 19 Copperas St, Manchester, M4 1HS - Visit now

This Gordon Ramsay-approved Northern Quarter restaurant is run by three sisters, and features some of the city’s finest Chinese cuisine.

Find out more
Hot & Numbing Chicken

Tattu

Tattu, Gartside Street, 3 Hardman Square, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M3 3EB - Visit now

Tattu has an indoor (artificial) blossom tree and the whole concept behind this innovative Chinese restaurant is equally lavish.

Find out more
Tattu Chinese restaurant Manchester

Seasonal Guides

Festival-goers at Green Island
Festivals

Here’s our guide to the best summer festivals with experiences taking place in a field or on the streets near you.
The Jungle Book at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre
Open Air Theatre in Manchester and the North

Open air theatre shows are happening across the north over the next few months – we’ve collated our top picks into a neat guide for you.

Summer Holidays: the best things to do with kids
Summer Holidays: the best things to do with kids

Check out our definitive and regularly updated guide of things to do with the family over the summer holidays.
Outdoor Art in the North

Our guide to the North’s outdoor art, which has a special relationship to community, cultural heritage and the landscape it’s situated in.
Outdoor Activities

Get out and about with our guide to interesting, unusual and distinctly cultural outdoor events and outdoor activities.
FaleSaSacred House
Visual Arts at MIF25

From indigenous wisdom in paint and performance to immersive sound installations, MIF25 returns with a unique visual arts programme.
Father’s Day in Manchester and the North

This year’s Father’s Day is Sunday 15 June. Get out and about and spend some quality time with the old man in Manchester.

Destinations

Image by Jonathan Schofield.
Spotlight on

Walking Tours in Manchester by Jonathan Schofield

Presenting the best walking tours in Manchester for history buffs, culture enthusiasts, and those looking to scratch beneath the surface of the city.

Take me there

Culture Guides

Theatre in Manchester
Theatre in the North

Summer signals theatre festivals, world premieres and open-air spectacle - from MIF25 to comedy, outdoor circus and beyond, here’s what we’re looking forward to.

Cloudwater Production One
Tours and Activities in the North

Go forth with wild abandon to dance the pavements, dabble with the paint and down the pints in this month's tours and activities guide.

Star Nhà Ease
Cinema in the North

July's cinema highlights include spotlights on international cinema, a new cult classic, plus a visit from one of our favourite directors.

Harry Baker
Literature Events in the North

From environmental to experimental, our poetry and prose picks from around the North are focused on the unusual and the fun.

Exhibitions in the North

Captivating, urgent and intimate - we bring you our top exhibition picks, with even more art festivals, artist-led shows and new venues.

Helena Hauff
Music in the North

Shape-shifting bands, scorched-earth techno, and off-grid festivals. Our latest music picks catch the live scene at its most urgent, inventive and alive.