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How to Create a Stunning Chinese New Year Event with the Right Rentals
With the Chinese New Year just around the corner, it’s normal to find yourself wondering how you’re going to plan the perfect event. There’s clearly plenty of planning involved and little time. Chinese New Year events can be challenging to execute even for the most brilliant event planners—there’s too much cultural symbolism that requires extensive attention to detail.
This guide will help you plan the best Chinese New Year event by providing you with details about the right rentals to hire. Rather than spending large amounts on purchasing new items for an event, choosing to rent will not only be cost-saving but also provide you with flexibility in choosing the right items customised to your event’s theme with zero fretting about storage issues.
Chinese New Year – History and Traditions
The Chinese New Year is an annual 15-day festival celebrated by Chinese communities worldwide. The event begins with the sighting of the new moon, often expected to be spotted between January 21 and February 20 (as per the British calendar). The celebrations go on until the full moon is spotted.
The tradition goes back to the lore of a legend. Legend says that a monster named “Nian” would attack villagers at the start of each year at a village. The villagers, to chase the monster away and protect themselves from harm, would wear red clothing, display bright lights, and make loud noises—three things the monster was afraid of.
Therefore, CNY celebrations include celebrating the prosperity and blessings the new year may bring while bidding farewell to the passing year. The event celebrations include cracking fireworks, wearing red clothes, and stunning decorations.
Major events during the CNY include giving out money to young adults in colourful envelopes, family get-togethers, and feasting on delicious food. Some may even deep clean their houses to get rid of any lingering bad luck. On the last day, there is a lantern festival where people carry or hang glowing lanterns during a parade.
How to Create a Stunning Chinese New Year Event with the Right Rentals?
Now that we’re all caught up on the basics for the CNY, it’s time to discuss the event planning. Whether you’re planning a grand banquet or a small dinner with your loved ones, having the right equipment and decorations for the event is crucial to ensure everyone involved enjoys the event. There is a wide range of event rentals that will be needed to execute the event perfectly. These include:
Decorations
Chinese New Year events have become a popular affair among people of all backgrounds recently, which is not surprising considering the beautifully diverse culture of the UK.
For any New Year event, bright colours with the right lighting and effects are significant in establishing a cosy yet comfortable party atmosphere.
You can invest in some festoon lighting or LED neon signs. Centrepieces, especially lanterns, carry cultural significance and are also necessary for the event. Therefore, make sure not to forgetcolourfull lanterns, especially if you’re planning a nighttime lantern parade.
Moreover, to set the right theme and tone for the event, you will also need the right furniture and other household items set to the theme. You can start off by deciding on a colour as your theme and plan the rest of your event accordingly. Preferably, red and gold should be your go-to colours for CNY. You can then rent furniture and carpets in the traditional Chinese red colour to set the perfect theme for your event.
Hiring the right decoration and furniture events can help you achieve an authentic touch to your event. You can reflect the touch of a Chinese banquet hall at your event or add subtle touches celebrating the Chinese culture to host the perfect event.
More Ideas!
Other equipment to kick your event up a notch, along with making your event fun and engaging, is to rent audio-visual equipment to blast some good CNY event music and get everyone to join the party. You can also set up a selfie booth to ensure there is something to keep the guests entertained, along with providing them with a personalised souvenir to take home such as memorable keepsakes.
Food and Drinks
Food and drinks also serve as significant items that determine the success of your event. Whenever you’re celebrating a particular culture, it’s essential to serve authentic food. Therefore, we recommend cooking authentic Chinese food such as chowmein, fried rice, kung pao chicken, pecking duck, and dumplings.
You can also hire catering if you think you may not be able to pull off a Chinese buffet.
What to Wear to a Chinese New Year Party?
If you’re hosting a Chinese New Year party and unsure what to wear, we’ve got you covered.
Traditionally, Chinese people choose to wear a qipao or a cheongsam frock—traditional Chinese clothing with an unsymmetrical slit over the right shoulder. However, if you do not own Chinese cultural clothing, you can simply wear red and gold clothing. Red is commonly worn during lunar year celebrations as the colour red is known to bring good luck and prosperity to the Chinese culture.
If you can’t find red clothing either, wear anything maroon, burgundy, merlot, or golden.
Chinese New Year—What Not to Do
When it comes to the Chinese New Year, there are plenty of superstitions and beliefs involved. As the start of a new year, this time is crucial and all about gearing up for the upcoming year and hoping it brings you success and blessings. While we’re aware of what we need to do, there are also certain actions that are supposed to be refrained from to kickstart a hopefully good year.
1. Don’t Wash or Cut Your Hair
On the first day of the CNY, you’re not supposed to wash or cut your hair. This is because the word for hair (髮) is exactly the same as the word for getting rich (發). Therefore, it is believed that by washing or cutting hair, you’re washing off good fortune for the remaining year. So, it’s best to skip hair wash day!
2. Do Not Cry!
The Chinese believe that whatever you practice on the first day of the year is what will shape the remaining days of the year. Therefore, make sure not to cry and actually enjoy the celebrations.
3. Do Not Clean Your House
Remember, you must not clean your house during the event celebrations. Instead, do it prior to the first day of the year to avoid sweeping away good luck for the year!
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
What is the Chinese New Year Animal for 2025?
The Chinese New Year Animal 2025 is the snake—the sixth of the twelve-year cycle of animals under the Chinese Calendar.
When Exactly is the Chinese New Year 2025?
The Chinese New Year in the UK, China, the USA, and Dubai will be observed on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. In Taiwan, the event will be celebrated on Thursday, January 30, 2025.
Is Chinese New Year a Public Holiday in the UK?
The Chinese New Year is not a public holiday in the UK. However, widescale celebrations, including parades, may cause slow traffic, especially in areas such as Chinatown.