Community group Salford Hongkongers are gearing up to celebrate the Lunar New Year 2026, with wonderful traditions and festivities coming back for another year.
With the Year of the Fire Horse in full swing, people from countries and regions all across the Asian calendar are proudly sporting their traditional colours to celebrate.
Evelyn Lo, deputy director of Salford Hongkongers CIC (Community Interest company), said: “I would say it is the most important festival for people who celebrate it, especially in Asia.
“It signifies a reunion of the family, and is a symbolism of everything that is new.
“So in Salford particularly, because we have quite a large group of Hong Kong people settling in Salford, several families get together. We have very significant meals together.”
The city is known across the UK as Britain’s Little Hong Kong due to the significant amount of settlers from the region, creating a tight-knit and richly cultured community.
To celebrate Lunar New Year, Salford Hongkongers are preparing to run a cultural event this Sunday February 22 mixing Hong Kong and East Asian culture, and everybody is welcome to join in.
The event, being held at Media City’s Kargo MKT, will bring an enlightening blend of traditional markets, with New Year activities such as national game Mahjong, (an ancient Chinese strategy game played with four competitors and blocks) topped off with a Lion Dance performance courtesy of local group Hong Kong Lion Team.
Evelyn said: “The Lion Dance is very significant in our culture, that incorporates music and sports. The people have a very large costume, like a lion.
“It dances accordingly to the music. So the symbol is simple, like to scare off the loud music, scare off the bad evils.
“Everything here, the way we celebrate, there is always some symbolic meaning behind it.”
She continued: “We’re going to have a Mahjong tournament as well, the four players represent the reunion of family for Lunar New Year”.
The markets are an excellent way for local Hong Kongers and people of all cultures and nationalities to come together, and indulge in the ancient and beautiful customs on display.
“Anyone can come to the event this Sunday and visit us. It’s just like a maker’s market and you can have a look at the Mahjong tournament, see how it works and get involved in our fun!”
Salford Hongkongers are run by director Manson Yiu, and are often on the forefront of the scene of Hong Kong-based culture events in the area.
The group aim to provide salvation for Hong Kong migrants who may feel alone or lost in their new home. Evelyn said: “We often don’t really know the culture. We don’t have friends here.
“So it’s important for us to start a community group that connects everyone together so that we can make friends, we can learn the language together, or we can share some daily life information that is useful for settling in.”
Salford Hongkongers CIC can be found on Facebook and Instagram as @salfordhongkongerscic.
