[MEL] The Joyful Lunar New Year Celebration 2026

📅 Date: Sunday, 22 February

🕑 Time: 2–4pm

📍 Location: Surrey Hills Neighbourhood Centre

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Age group: Families with children aged 3 to 10

The Joyful Lunar New Year Celebration 2026

A Playful Journey Through Old Traditions

If you’ve celebrated Lunar New Year with us before, this marks our 3rd Lunar New Year celebration in Melbourne.

Over the years, we’ve explored different festive foods — and this year, we’re excited to go deeper into the stories and traditions behind Lunar New Year, with a special focus on how they’re celebrated in Singapore.

We’ll begin with a Lunar New Year story (Dragons in Chinatown, by Singaporean authors Valerie Pereira and Kwee Eng Liau) and a short reflection on the past year at Joyful Plates, celebrating the cultures, festivals and community we’ve shared together.

🏮 Interactive Tradition Stations

🦁 New year traditions activity Trail

Children move through a playful activity trail inspired by old Lunar New Year traditions.

🍰 Little Bakers: Kuih Bahulu

Children will make traditional kuih bahulu, learning how families in the past prepared simple baked treats to welcome guests and share festive joy.

🐎 Prosperity Salad (Yu Sheng) Creation & Tossing

Families will create a horse-shaped (or free-form) Yu Sheng, learn the meaning behind its ingredients, and toss together while sharing wishes for the year ahead.

🎁 The Joyful Plates Experience

• Hands-on cooking, play and storytelling

• Old traditions made joyful and meaningful for children

• A warm, community-focused celebration for families

*Goodie bags with Lunar new year bricks set and snack packs to be redeemed! (With SGN information filled in by parents).

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This event is proudly supported by Singapore Global Network, helping us share Singaporean stories, traditions and culture with families in Melbourne.

We look forward to welcoming you and your family to celebrate Lunar New Year the Joyful Plates way.