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
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