On Sunday 12th February I was delighted to attend celebrations in the Market Square, Northampton for the Chinese New Year. Also present were representatives from the University of Northampton, the Borough Council, including the Leader, and also Northamptonshire Police with Chief Constable Simon Edens.
There have only been a couple of these Chinese New year celebrations in Northampton town centre previously, but hundreds were present this year despite very cold weather. The event had traditional Chinese entertainment including colourful displays of dancing dragons and lanterns.
The date of Chinese New Year differs from our New Year as the Chinese follow a different calendar which plots years, months and days according to astronomical phenomena – as opposed to how we plot dates which is approximately determined by the rotations of the moon and the Earth. 2017 is the year of the Rooster, whereas I was born in the year of the Goat!
It was another example of one of the many rich cultures that we have in our town.