Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Breathtaking lion dance takes centre stage in Elgin to celebrate Chinese New Year

Giant dragons danced on an Elgin cultural landmark in celebration of Chinese New Year.

As China brought in the year of the rabbit on Sunday, celebrations were held more than 4,000 miles away in the north-east.

Residents of all ages gathered around The Plainstones on the High Street awaiting the arrival of the world famous Glasgow Hong Lok Dragon and Lion Dancing Troupe.

Primary school children sat closest to the front, practicing their dragon roars to welcome the dancers with.

Teachers said the children felt “excited” for the performance, stressing they believe it’s beneficial to witness and embrace different cultures from around the world.

White dragon from the parade dancing around on the Plainstones in Elgin
Dragon from the Glasgow Hong Lok Dragon and Lion Dancing Troupe on The Plainstones. Picture by Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

When the dancers arrived, they were met with enthusiastic roars from the children keen to demonstrate their dragon impressions.

As the white dragon made its way over to the Plainstones, it started to dance to the beat of the drums slowly jumping higher and higher in the air to the delight of spectators.

The dragon, which was being operated by two men, proceeded to climb onto a bench and fire confetti towards the audience from its mouth, which was met with roars of excitement.

A smaller black dragon then appeared which was being controlled by two young girls.

The two dragons danced in unison, then proceeded to make their way to the crowd, giving children at the front an opportunity to clap them on the nose.

Black dragon being clapped by people watching the Elgin Chinese New Year performance
Smaller black dragon greeting the crowd in Elgin. Picture by Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

Year of the rabbit

The event was introduced by Monica Lee-Macpherson, chairwoman of the Scottish Highlands and Islands and Moray Chinese Association.

Mrs Lee-Macpherson said: “This is the year of the rabbit, there should be prosperity because it’s productive, that’s what we hope.”

This isn’t the first time Moray have had the privilege of meeting the Glasgow Hong Lok Dragon and Lion Dancing Troupe.

In 2020, students at Gordonstoun School were entertained by a spectacular lion dance performance to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Prior to Covid, Elgin have also repeatedly welcomed the dancers as Mrs Lee-Macpherson praised the atmosphere created in Moray.

“We perform in Elgin every year, it’s a great atmosphere with the children laughing,” she added.

Three year old Nieve Fraser besotted with the Glasgow Hong Lok Dragon and Lion Dancing Troup in Elgin today. Picture by Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

The Glasgow Hong Lok Dragon and Lion Dancing Troupe also performed in Inverness as part of the celebrations.

Another spectacular performance took place on the city’s High Street and outside the Town Hall.

How else is Elgin celebrating?

M&S Foodhall in Elgin are providing takeaways for two in celebration of Chinese New Year.

They wrote in a Facebook post: “Chinese New Year is the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar and is one of the biggest festivals in the world, celebrated by one sixth of the world’s population.

“Introducing our new year of the rabbit takeaway box- available for a limited time to celebrate the Lunar New Year at M&S Elgin.”

Interactive role-play centre Toy Toon encouraged people to book a play session today as they will be handing out fortune cookies for the children.

They wrote on Facebook: “Why not book a play session- we have fortune cookies at the ready. Happy Chinese New Year.”

More images of the Chinese New Year parade can be seen in our gallery:

School children looking up at dragon
School children looking up at one of the mighty dragons. Picture by Jason Hedges/DC Thomson
Black dragon going up to people watching the Chinese New Year parade in Elgin
Black dragon greeting the crowd. Picture by Jason Hedges/DC Thomson
White dragon with mouth open looking happy
White dragon enjoying the reaction from the audience. Picture by Jason Hedges/DC Thomson
Dragon running towards the spectators watching the Chinese New Year parade in Elgin
White dragon making its way into the crowd. Picture by Jason Hedges/DC Thomson
White dragon going up to people watching the Chinese New Year parade in Elgin
White dragon getting in amongst the spectators. Picture by Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

Conversation