16 Ways To Celebrate Lunar New Year in Sydney This Year

The fire horse is here, and Sydney is running with it. Tuesday February 17 marks the start of the 2026 Lunar New Year – a 15-day celebration of fresh beginnings on the lunisolar calendar, widely observed in China, Vietnam and Asian communities worldwide. From extravagant banquets and lion dances to bakery specials and kitchen collabs, the city’s pulling out all the stops for the new year.

Dining events

Hotluck Club x Mecca Coffee, Alexandria
Carriageworks Market favourite Hotluck Club is hitting Mecca Coffee’s Alexandria space for one night only on Saturday February 21. Hotluck’s Gaspar Tse is cooking a four-course share-style banquet, with matched Chinese wines from Periphery Wine Imports. Tickets are $88 for the set menu, with wines and additional snacky add-ons available on the night. It kicks off at 6pm, tickets essential.

Mimi Wong at Lana, CBD
Masterchef alum Mimi Wong joins Lana’s executive chef Alex Wong in his kitchen for a one-night-only four-course menu on February 17. The banquet is $139 per person, spanning prawn toast, vinegar-dressed storm clams and bonito crudo, plus by pineapple char siu buns, dry-aged roast duck and “eggplant masquerading as potato”. Tickets essential.

Dish and menu specials

Baker Bleu x Lee Ho Fook, Double Bay
Head to the Double Bay bakery between Monday February 16 and Sunday March 1 for a trio of specials made in collaboration with Lee Ho Fook’s Victor Liong. Pick from a duck sausage roll, a ginger-glazed spring onion twist and a jasmine tea custard tart. 

Pantry Story, Stanmore
The Parramatta Road joint is the spot for exceptionally creative bakes – and the Lunar New Year specials stick to the brief. Mr Crab’s Seafood Pie is a golden crab-shaped puff pastry number, filled with a mix of corn, prawns, crabs, seafood sticks and squid. Then there’s a croissant shaped like a yum cha basket, filled with pork and prawn money bags. Available till the end of February. 

Rasa House, Rose Bay
Over two nights, Rose Bay’s waterfront wine bar is serving an $89 set menu. There’ll be pork belly bao, Skull Island prawn toast, charcoal Shandong chicken and more. Plus, a welcome cocktail and special events: a tea ceremony on Friday February 20 and fortune readings on Saturday February 21. Those offers are first-in, first-served, with lunch and dinner bookings recommended. 

Opera Bar and House Canteen, Circular Quay
The recently revamped harbourside venue is celebrating Year of the Horse with menu specials from Monday February 16 to Tuesday March 3. Expect grilled lobster dressed in kombu butter and salt and pepper Moreton Bay bugs. Or hit House Canteen for prawn toast, seafood dumplings, and bright serves of prosperity yee sang to share. Walk-ins only.

Victor Liong x Sydney Opera HouseThe celebrated Lee Ho Fook chef Victor Liong is hitting the Opera House’s Yallumundi Rooms for one night only, on Thursday February 19. There’ll be three courses – with tea or wine pairings – each presented by the chef himself. Expect lion dance performances, Liong sharing his inspirations and New Year stories. Plus, the option to add on six oysters and a half-bottle of Pommery. The banquet starts at $228 per person, bookings required. 

Spice Temple, CBD
From February 9 to March 3, Spice Temple is serving a limited-edition banquet focused on seasonality and shared dining. The menu nods to classic New Year dishes, from pink snapper yee sang and pork belly with rice cakes to pippies simmered in Shaoxing wine. You’ll finish with chestnut mooncakes, honey ice-cream and a red packet for every diner. The banquet is $159 per person, bookings recommended. 

Felons Barrel Room
A four-day Lunar New Year program unfolds at Manly Wharf from Thursday February 19 – and Saigon Supper Inn is on food duty. The menu pulls from Tet traditions, with share dishes spanning ingot-shaped dumplings, longevity noodles, Peking duck and soft-shell crab fried rice. There’ll be lion dance performances on Thursday and Sunday. The opening-night feast on February 19 is best booked ahead, while the remaining program is free to attend and open to walk-ins. 

Miss Sina, Marrickville
Marrickville’s funky vegan bakery is leaning into crossover pastries for the start of the year – with specials like duck banh mi croissants and twice-baked pineapple tart croissants, plus mapo tofu or mango sago danishes. There are also ube mochi doughnuts and scallion pancake scrolls, with all the Lunar New Year pastries available until the end of February. 

Aria, Circular Quay
Matt Moran’s fine diner is serving a special snack and cocktail menu at the bar, from Monday February 16 till Tuesday March 3. Find a duck pie, rock lobster toast, scallop and shiitake egg roll and more, alongside a mandarin and rhubarb cocktail. Bookings encouraged. 

Delta Rue, CBD
The Sofitel Wentworth restaurant’s rolling out an $88 Lunar New Year set menu that moves from fresh, herb-driven starters to rich, wok-fired mains. Highlights include XO mushroom longevity noodles, lemongrass Wagyu skewers, caramelised pork belly, and sticky rice ice-cream. Bookings encouraged. 

Community events

South Eveleigh
From Monday February 16 to Sunday February 22, a program of free community events takes over the precinct that’s just moments from Redfern Station. There’s a traditional “plucking of the greens” lion dance at 11.30am on February 18; mahjong for all levels on February 19 (11am till 2pm) and February 21 (10am till 1pm); and Jin Wu Koon’s high pole lion dance from 1pm on February 21.

Paramatta
The City of Paramatta has doubled its Lunar New Year program this year, adding cosplay, wishing trees and stacked food stalls to the mix. Parramatta Square goes big with DJ sets from Pho The Girls, Jade Kenjii and more. Free entry, from 4pm till 9pm.

Epping
On Saturday February 21, Boronia Park is hosting live cooking demos from Masterchef favourites Therese Lum and Sarah Tiong, plus Black Star Pastry’s Christopher The. Free entry, from 4pm till 9pm.

Campsie
Campsie Lantern Festival takes over Anzac Park and Anzac Mall. The event lights up the area on Saturday February 28, with glowing lanterns and the Yunnan Arts Troupe’s costume-led Campsie Catwalk.