According to the Lunar calendar, 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope. And if The Star Sydney’s line-up of Lunar New Year celebrations is anything to go by, we’ve got a lot to look forward to. Here we share our top tips for kicking off the Year of The Rabbit (or Cat, for those following the Vietnamese calendar) in style.
As the old adage goes, “start as you mean to go on”. And, what better way to welcome in the luckiest year in the Chinese Lunar calendar, the Year of The Rabbit than by indulging in colourful opulence to bring about good fortune and prosperity for the 12 months ahead.
To help those who celebrate Lunar New Year do so in style, The Star Sydney has introduced its Festival of Abundance – a 15-day line-up of culinary delights, opulent banquets and artistic installations designed to fill guests with prosperity, wealth, health, happiness, family and good fortune for the coming year, and importantly, be shared amongst loved ones.
With all manner of celebratory pop-ups happening across the world-class entertainment precinct, we’ve narrowed it down to our top five venues and activations to check out this Lunar New Year:
A Mythical Masterpiece Performance in the Grand Foyer
The Star Grand Foyer will also host an Australian first, world-class digital art show and aerialist performance Aqualume with light and water beyond imagination in partnership with Couture Air. Through stunning interactive animations, world-class aerial contortion and luminous laser lighting amongst cascading curtains of water pulsing from the ceiling, audiences will be taken on a journey by the Goddess of the Moon, Chang’e. The show will be performed nightly on Thursdays to Sundays at 8:00pm, 8:30pm, 9:30pm, 10:00pm, 10:30pm and 11:00pm from 19 January and is free to view for all visitors.
A Feast Full of Fortune at Flying Fish
For those celebrating the Lunar New Year, it is a time to honour ancestors and come together with family to celebrate the abundance of life, including the great cultural definer: food. Each of The Star Sydney’s dining venues will be adding to the two-weeks of feasting with limited edition menus infused with ingredients significant to the Chinese holiday. For example, at Flying Fish, Executive Chef Adam Hall will be offering up a fresh, succulent woodfired yabbies with saltbush and ginger, and steamed coral trout with bush tomato. With their beautiful, bright red colours – a reflection of prosperity – the yabby and coral trout are served whole to represent unity.
A Limited Edition Bite-Sized Banquet at G&Tea
G&Tea’s special Lunar New Year high tea sees the bar’s bite-sized sweet and savoury delights evolve to hero Chinese flavours. Think Spencer Gulf king prawn with sesame toast, numbing jellyfish and poached chicken with cucumber ribbon, BBQ char siu pork neck with Asian slaw and golden mantou. Those with a sweet tooth can also indulge in an array of delicious desserts, such as the “Longevity” Earl Grey and milk chocolate steam cake, mandarin cream caramel, strawberry chiffon gateaux, and freshly baked scones with citron tea marmalade.
A Curated Cultural Exhibition at Michael Reid Art Bar
For those seeking to look at Lunar New Year celebrations through a cultural lens, the Michael Reid Art Bar is collaborating with the Vermilion Gallery of Contemporary Chinese Art to fill its space with works responding to the Lunar New Year from fourteen Chinese artists based in Sydney, Melbourne, Beijing and Tibet. The exhibition, INK+, will emphasise the legacy and ongoing resonance of Chinese ink painting through works spanning an array of art forms including painting, calligraphy, sculpture and mixed media.
A Bunny-Filled Photo Opportunity
Between the dining and entertainment activations introduced across the precinct, guests will also be able to enjoy a nest of 56 majestic bright red, pink, green, gold, purple, blue and yellow oversized rabbit statues taking over the property, providing a great opportunity for a photo moment and good luck for the year ahead.
Bookings are now open for celebrations at The Star Sydney’s Lunar New Year Festival of Abundance.
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