Meadowhall welcomed this year’s Sheffield Chinese Lunar New Year Extravaganza with family activities and performances across a week of festivities.

From Sunday 15 to Friday 20 February, Meadowhall invited shoppers to take part in free drop-in workshops to mark Chinese Lunar New Year, including lantern making, calligraphy writing and mask painting events.

Celebrations at Meadowhall concluded with a headline performance from the internationally acclaimed, Word Champion Lion Dance performers, Foshan Lion Dance Troupe.

The lion dance is traditionally performed to bring good luck and prosperity for the coming year and to drive away bad spirits.

Among the performers were also traditional dancers, drummers, and a Chinese vocal artist, who all took to the stage in the Lower Oasis as hundreds gathered to watch.

Jesse Wyatt, 44, of Hillsborough, attended the event with her two children. She said: “It was fantastic for the kids to see such an exciting and vibrant display. Hopefully it’ll encourage them to want to learn more about other cultures and traditions here in Sheffield.”

Presented by Cultural Inclusive CIC in association with Sheffield BID and Sheffield City Council, the Chinese New Year Gala has become a thriving celebration of tradition and culture in Sheffield since it’s first event in 2004.

Festival founder and organiser Jerry Cheung described the event as a way to “celebrate our city’s diversity and build lasting connections between communities.”

Mr Cheung said: “It is about bringing the whole city together and sharing culture. To see it grow into the largest Lunar New Year celebration in Yorkshire is something Sheffield can be proud of.”

Originally taking place at Sheffield City Hall, the event has become one of the city’s signature cultural celebrations, now taking place in five locations across the city including the Peace Gardens, Sheffield Children’s Hospital, and more recently, Meadowhall.

Lauren Péng, 23, of Wadsley, said: “It’s just so nice to see our culture celebrated in such a popular place, so many people of all backgrounds have come to watch.”

The festival returns in the Year of the Horse, a symbol in the Chinese zodiac of vitality, independence and strength.