Year Of The Rooster At Sovereign Hill

Year Of The Rooster At Sovereign Hill

Join in the excitement and spectacle of an authentic Chinese New Year celebration, as Sovereign Hill, Victoria's favourite outdoor museum, heralds in the Year of the Rooster.

With a host of colourful, authentic celebrations, visitors can step back in time and experience what life was like for a Chinese person living on the goldfields as they welcome in this new year.

Sovereign Hill, together with the Chinese Australian Cultural Society Ballarat, will present a host of fun, hands-on activities to celebrate the Year of the Rooster, on both Sunday 5^th and Sunday 12^th February.

On 5^th February only, visitors can enjoy a special Chinese Lion Dancing workshop, and at 10.45am, Main Street will come alive with lions, drums and a traditional Chinese ceremony to welcome in the Chinese New Year.

On both Sundays, the Chinese Dragon, Xin Long, and Chinese lions will dance and weave their way up Main Street at 1pm, filling the outdoor museum with colour, spectacle and celebration!

Highlights this year that will take place on both Sundays include:

Hands-on activities – Create your own Chinese paper rooster, have your name written in Chinese characters, make a lucky money envelope and wish others good fortune, make a Chinese endless knot, and even try Chinese paper cutting! Located at the Horse Bazaar from 11am – 4pm.

Chinese Camp Tour – Visit the Chinese camp and find out how Chinese diggers lived during the gold rushes. Meet Sovereign Hill's roosters and beautiful Chinese Silkie hens too.  Twenty minute guided tours are available in English (11.30am and 2pm) and Chinese (11.50am and 2.50pm) at the Chinese Camp.

Anti-Chinese League – come to a theatre performance that recreates a public meeting to ban Chinese people from the Ballarat goldfields and learn about why some people were determined to stop Chinese immigration in the 1850s. Victoria Theatre, 12noon.

Chinese Performances - Discover the importance of the Chinese Year of the Rooster and enjoy colourful performances of ribbon and fan dancing, as well as the sacred art of Tai Chi. Victoria Theatre at 1.45pm

Lion Dance Workshop - Find out about Chinese Lion Dancing, and even try to do it yourself! Victoria Theatre, 12.30pm. Sunday 5^th February only.

Over at the Gold Museum (entry included in ticket to Sovereign Hill), visitors can place a wish at the Wishing Tree in the museum's foyer, or colour and send a postcard to family and friends with good wishes for 2017.  Chinese Collection Tours, where visitors can get a sneak peak of the Chinese collection in this exclusive back-of-house tour, are also available in English and Chinese.

To extend your visit to Ballarat, the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka (MADE) is showcasing -Chinese Fortunes' an exhibition exploring the individual stories of early Chinese Australians – business people, traders, miners, gardeners, herbalists, detectives, interpreters, entertainers, publicans – and the rich diversity of Chinese Australian history leading up to Federation. Sovereign Hill's Gold Museum has lent a number of objects to this fascination exhibition.

Chinese New Year Celebrations at Sovereign Hill

Sunday 5^th and Sunday 12^th February 2017

Sovereign Hill, 3 Bradshaw Street, Ballarat, 3350.

Phone (03) 5337 1199 or visit www.sovereignhill.com.au for further details.