Asian Events Trust presses pause on Lunar New Year celebrations

Organisers of Wellington’s Lunar New Year celebrations have announced they will press pause for 2023.

“Asian Events Trust are proud of the contribution made to Wellington's arts and culture landscape, with New Year celebrations now an accepted part of Wellington’s cultural calendar,” says Linda Lim, Chair of Asian Events Trust (AET).

“2023 will be a time for us to review and refresh, we’ve made the decision to take a break and will not be organising a festival for Wellington.

“AET are really proud to have delivered a memorable celebration in 2021, marking the 20th anniversary of Chinese New Year celebrations in Wellington, followed by the rebranding to the Lunar New Year Festival in 2022. 

“The past two years have been especially challenging as we navigated our way through a global pandemic. 

“We thank our funders, sponsors and all the community groups who have worked tirelessly with us over many years to support and grow New Year celebrations,” says Lim.
AET says the lingering effects of COVID-19 and uncertainty of emerging new variants continues to pose challenges for an events sector, already hit hard by the pandemic. The economic impact of COVID-19 will place further pressure to fund a festival that relies heavily on grants and community support.

“We will take some time to reflect on 21 years of organising the festival and use this opportunity to recharge and recover from management of an event through a pandemic over the past two years,” says Lim.

Wellington’s Chinese New Year Festival launched in 2002, when there was no community celebration of the Chinese New Year, and only family celebrations behind closed doors. 20-years later there is a high awareness and appreciation of Asian culture and New Year traditions. Local businesses and communities are engaged in New Year celebrations, and have not only joined in events organised by AET, but now acknowledge the New Year with their own independently organised events.

“The support and commitment of community groups and the public to engage in New Year celebrations has been an inspiration to us and instrumental to growing and sustaining the festival over the past two decades. 

“In recent years, we have been particularly heartened to see so many businesses mark this important date in the Asian calendar.

“We believe the time is right for the festival to become more community-led and look forward to seeing what businesses and communities will come up with to welcome in the Lunar New Year of the Water Rabbit on 22 January 2023,” says Lim.

With the impetus the festival has created, AET recognises it is vital to celebrate this date for our Asian communities, so they will use its website and networks to support independently organised events and activities.