1st of February marks the Lunar New Year in 2022, and those located near Greenwich who want to welcome the year of the tiger can celebrate at the Royal Museums of Greenwich as they are offering a variety of events to commemorate the holiday. 

Lunar New Year, more commonly referred to as spring festival in east asian cultures, is the celebration of a new year by the  traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar typically falling between the 21st of January and the 20th of February when the new moon appears and continues for 15 days after its beginning. 

The Lunar New Year festival in London has been cancelled again due to Covid-19 worries for a second year in a row. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on the 8th of December that the entire country will be moving into plan b encouraging people to work from home and making masks compulsory, making the Lunar New Year festival very hard to happen. Smaller events are allowed to take place as long as they follow current Covid-19 rules.

This event has been created with the Vietnamese Group, Global Fusion Music and Newham Chinese Association to bring dozens of performances and activities. From workshops such as ship printing, qigong and tai chi, dragon and lion dance and lantern making, to talks and tours on the symbolism of the Spring Festival, the Royal Museums of Greenwich are offering activities for all ages. 

For those concerned about Covid-19, online activities will also be provided, with some of them already being on the website to help those interested to learn more about Lunar New Year. Lessons on how to make a lucky fish poster and how to make a Hongbao are currently available. On the 26th of January, there will be a link available on their website to join to watch Cantonese opera and have more Lunar New Year experiences. 

These events can be booked for free on the Royal Museum Greenwich website.