Happy Year of the Sheep – or Goat – depending upon who you are talking to and which language you’re speaking. In Korean, Mongolian and Chinese it’s both a sheep and a goat; in Vietnamese it’s definitely a goat; in Japanese it’s definitely a sheep and in Mandarin it is the year of the horned animal – so that could be sheep, goat or (if you want to get crazy) a ram. Your guess is as good as mine. Irrespective of which horned animal we’re celebrating, I have long dreamed of spending Chinese New Year in China but it wasn’t on the cards for me this year. Instead, I joined in the Sino-Irish revelry that took over Dublin‘s Temple Bar this weekend. There were all kinds of strange and fabulous sights, from dragons…
… and dancing lions …
… to exquisite dancers in delightfully colourful costumes…
… and mouth-watering cookery demonstrations.
Everybody was kung fu fighting…
…and tai chi enlightening …
… this dragon was a little bit frightening…
…until I realized it was just the front of a Chinese Dragon Boat…
… complete with a majestic drum to urge the paddlers onward. I got to play the drum myself, before wandering back to listen to the much more delicate sound of the guzheng aka zither or Chinese harp.
There were noodles being stir-fried…
… and stalls selling toy sheep …
… so you could treasure your own little memento of the year of the sheep. Or goat. Or ram. There were even a few sheep hanging around for good measure. I think I recognized one of them from the Sheep Olympics I attended last year in Wexford.
It was a whole lot of fun, but I did have some favourite moments, like when the dancers pulled this cool move …
… and when the dancing lion turned his back and wagged his adorably fluffy tail…
… this little girl in the audience…
… and these ridiculously cute teeny tiny dancers …
Here’s a short video I made showing some highlights of the Dublin Chinese New Year Festival. Hope you enjoy it.
Happy Year of the Sheep. Or Goat. Or Ram.
xxx Ailsa
Where's my backpack? 
Thank you for your wonderful Website all the event that you have present to all your followers
You have covered so many events you have inspired and motivated so many of your followers
Chinese News Years was just amazing the video you have available.
Wishing you all your success daily
Thanks Donna, so glad you enjoyed my Dublin-style Chinese New Year. 🙂
Thanks for clearing up the ambiguity on which horned animal represents 2015 in Asian culture. I asked my Vietnamese massuse if it was the year of the sheep liked I’d read. She said ” not year of ‘ship’ (my name is Bill and she calls me ‘Beeo’), year of goat.” I was then confused until I read your post. Thanks!
It was getting very confusing out there, Bill, with all those woolly horned animals flying around! 🙂
Such a colourful ceremony Ailsa. Those teeny tiny dancers are so cute and very serious as they concentrate so hard on their moves. Lovely post
They were just so funny to watch, pommepal, one of them (the little one in the solo portrait) kept twirling in the opposite direction to all the other girls – every.single.time. – the crowd absolutely loved it.
Great entertainment, your video was very good too Ailsa
Love this post and your colorful images. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Karen, Happy Chinese New Year. 🙂
Great photos! Looks a very fun event. Sheep sounds better than goat I think.
It was a lot of fun, Mary, and the sheep seemed to have a good time too! 😉
Great photos. So bright and colourful. I love the children.
Those little girls were adorable, Raewyn. 🙂
Love it! I didn’t know you were writing from Dublin, so I was extra surprised. I had no idea there’s a large enough Asian community there to warrant a festival. How cool! Thanks for sharing and enlightening us.
Yes, it was fun, Jennifer, although I hear the London celebrations are the next best thing to celebrating in China, so maybe next year I’ll pop across the pond and see how London does it! 🙂
what a treat, to experience Chinese New Year in Ireland. It looks as if everyone had a great time. I’m glad you cleared up the confusion about goats and sheep as we were in Burma and Thailand over the festivities and I wasn’t quite sure which animal was being feted. On balance, it seems to be the goat. Perhaps I’ll just stick with Capricorn.
Aha, good choice, I’m a Cappie myself so that works for me. 🙂
Great post Ailsa!!!!
Thanks! 🙂
Wow! Really interesting post and great shots/video. Looked like a very fun day.
It was a whole lot of fun, so glad you enjoyed my post. xxx Ailsa
The dragons win for me every time, but you gave them a run for their money with those little cuties at the end 🙂
Those little girls were adorable, Jo The lion stole my heart though. 🙂
Nothing more fun than the dancing lions – what a saucy tail that one had! And the little dancers are always so sweet. Looks like a great event. Really enjoyed your pictures
Thanks phil, yes, I’m all about the dancing lions! Happy Year of the Sheep. Or Goat. Or Ram. 🙂
Happy New Year of the Sheep!
You too Allie! 🙂
This made me laugh because I did an engagement shoot in Vegas over the Valentine’s weekend. We passed numerous displays of sheep/goat and ram, along with big-horned sheep. A friendly argument ensued with signs saying ‘goat’ being pointed out in response to ‘but it’s year of the sheep’. When we returned home I did a bit of research and discovered it’s more ‘year of the horned animal’ – a differing animal depending which country you come from. Another argument ensued when I shared the info beginning with, ‘see, I was right’… LOL
Haha, “See, I was right” is always a good way to start an argument, that’s too funny. Hope you had fun in Vegas, even if you were there for work. It’s such a crazy town. 🙂
Best kind of work – a mini vacation on top of an easy job with great backdrops!
Excellent post that gives us all a glimpse of the Chinese culture! Thanks.