Fireworks have been filling the sky this week in celebration of Chinese New Year, and to welcome in the Year of the Snake. In Birmingham City Centre, the festivities continue this weekend (Sat 1 - Sun 2 February), with music, dance and theatre performances, street food and a market popping up in the heart of the city.

The festival has been created in a collaboration between Birmingham Chinese Festivals Committee, Birmingham Hippodrome and other local organisations, who each lend their resources to create a vibrant, exciting, free day out. What’s On spoke to Chris Sudworth, Creative Director at the Hippodrome, to find out what to expect at this weekend’s celebrations.

“It’s a riot of colour. It’s just absolutely glorious. It’s joyful, it’s celebratory, it’s loud - in a really resonant way”, says Chris, “You get a real sense of community, and what’s beautiful about the celebration is that although it’s Chinese New Year, it absolutely celebrates Chinese heritage, East Asian heritage, South East Asian heritage - all of those nationalities and communities that make up China Town, and add such richness and life to our city. On both Saturday and Sunday there’s a Street Market throughout Southside - the area outside the Hippodrome, that includes China Town and the Gay Village. There will be traders, both Chinese businesses and local craft traders.”

Naturally, Chinese New Year Celebrations have taken place in the area for decades, but the Hippodrome’s practical involvement began seven years ago, as the community and scale of the festival increased.

“We’re really proud to be a part of China Town and a part of Southside… We started co-producing the festival in 2018, when the scale-up happened. We bring our production expertise and our festivals team, as part of our partnership to celebrate our neighbourhood and the communities within it.”

Performance is an integral part of the festival, with live entertainment happening on the streets of Birmingham, as well as on the stage.

“The Uber Eats Stage has everything from K-Pop, to traditional dance, to martial arts, to live music, including music from the Conservatoire, face-changing opera… There’s a combination of the traditional and contemporary, and younger generations’ expressions of Chinese culture. And Pom Pom, the enormous Giant Panda, walking around - the selfie king!”

Chris explains that offering free entertainment is central to the ethos of the festival, alongside celebrating Chinese, East Asian and South East Asian culture. “We’re really passionate that people can come and have a fantastic, genuinely free day out, where they can take part, they can access face-painting, they can see performances on the stages. If they want to, they can buy food from the brilliant Chinese businesses around us, but equally it’s an open site… And the whole day closes with a fantastic fireworks finale!”

There will be plenty of entertainment to choose from - including some new additions to the programme: “We’ve only dipped our toe into K-Pop previously. There’s three different K-Pop crews that are performing on the group stage this time, and in addition there’s a fusion dance programme… In the Hippodrome’s Patrick Studio there’s a brand new theatre company that we’ve been supporting, called Move Midlands. They are all East and South East Asian theatre makers. Last year they shared a few short scenes, and this time they’re presenting their first full performance, in the Patrick Studio at 2pm on Sunday - and again that’s free of charge.”

And while the festival does celebrate new and emerging artists from the city, it also embraces the traditional elements of a Chinese New Year celebration - including one of Chris’ favourite performances.

“I’m always really excited about the Lion Dance, there’s nothing quite like it. When all of those elements come together - the sound, the physical performance, the colour in the costumes and the excitement that they bring into a space by travelling through it - they really bring the spirit, and set the store for how the day will be.”

Birmingham’s Chinese New Year 2025 celebrations are co-produced by Birmingham Chinese Festival Committee and Birmingham Hippodrome, taking place on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 February. Visit the website for more information.