Where To Celebrate Lunar New Year In Sydney In 2026
Eloise Luke
Contributor | Urban List
Sydney’s Lunar New Year celebrations are set to light up the city from Tuesday 17 February to Friday 27 February 2026, with a packed program of festive banquets, cultural events, pop-ups and live performances welcoming the Year of the Horse.
In the Lunar calendar, the Year of the Horse symbolises momentum, fresh opportunities and forward movement—and Sydney is leaning all the way in. Expect limited-edition Lunar New Year menus, symbolic dishes and sweet treats, alongside cultural workshops, tea ceremonies, contemporary art exhibitions, night markets and large-scale community celebrations across the city.
From Chinatown to the CBD and beyond, Lunar New Year 2026 is shaping up to be a citywide celebration of culture, food and community.
Here’s Urban List's edit of the best Lunar New Year events in Sydney for 2026.
Master Cow's CNY Banquet
World Square, SHOP 16/123 Liverpool Street, Sydney CBD | Sunday 1 February – Sunday 8 March
Image credit: Master Cow | Supplied
Master Cow is bringing a new spin to classic hotpot, with a stacked banquet menu and a one-of-a-kind signature Golden Cow centrepiece. For $70 per head, you can score premium beef, fresh seafood and classic soup bases until Sunday 8 March, with three VIP rooms on offer for maximum privacy and family time.
Insider Intel
- The menu is halal-friendly (strictly no pork), so everyone can enjoy the feast.
Dumplings & Mahjong At Loam
47/53 Wentworth Avenue, Sydney CBD | Tuesday 11 February
Image credit: Loam | Instagram
Loam at the Ace Hotel is welcoming the Lunar New Year with a one-night-only celebration that brings together good food, good fortune and a proper game of mahjong. Taking place on Tuesday 11 February, the evening kicks off with a Chinese-inspired feast by Toby Greentree of Fratelli Paradiso, before rolling straight into mahjong hosted by No Flowers Mahjong Club.
Dinner begins at 6pm with a multi-course menu centred on dumplings, noodles and celebratory share plates, designed to be enjoyed communally. From 8pm, the tables turn to tiles, with mahjong games welcoming both beginners and seasoned players.
Tickets are $110 per person and include an arrival drink, the full multi-course dinner and the mahjong session.
Insider Intel
- Come hungry and don’t stress if you’ve never played mahjong—this one’s designed to be as social as it is celebratory.
Haus of Marigold Lunar New Year Pop-Up
Level 4, 683 George Street, Haymarket | Saturday 31 January
Image credit: Matcha Meets Sydney | Instagram
To mark the start of the new year, Matcha Meets Sydney and Soul of Chinatown are teaming up for a one-day pop-up. Haus of Marigold is a curated activation marking the Lunar New Year with a daytime celebration centred on Asian culture, creativity and community—and it’s shaping up to be a proper wander-and-linger kind of affair. Running from 10am to 4pm, the pop-up brings together a curated lineup of Asian-owned brands and creatives across food, drink, lifestyle and art, all under one roof in Sydney's CBD.
Throughout the day, you can browse stalls, meet makers and soak up the atmosphere, or dive a little deeper by booking into one of the cultural and creative workshops running across the program. These ticketed sessions have limited spots and each comes with a complimentary matcha from Matcha Mitu—a very nice bonus.
The lineup spans everything from food and florals to art and design, with names like Grape Garden Beijing Cuisine, Satori Tea House, Oi Oi Collective and BLY Photobooth in the mix, alongside a stack of independent studios and creatives.
Insider Intel
- Pop-up entry is free, but workshops are ticketed and limited—lock yours in early if there’s one you’ve got your eye on.
Night At The Marigold
Level 4, 683 George Street, Haymarket | Saturday 31 January, 8pm–11pm
Image credit: Soul Of Chinatown | Instagram
When the sun goes down, Haus of Marigold shifts gears. Night at the Marigold is the after-dark counterpart to the daytime Lunar New Year celebrations—transforming the space into a full-blown dance floor fuelled by Asian beats, late-night energy and matcha flowing all night long.
From 8pm, a lineup of Asian DJs will take over, spinning everything from nostalgic Asian classics to K-pop, R&B, Hip Hop and Garage. Expect a tight, high-energy program led by Riri, DJ Pluggy and Lo Sai Sai Lo, with sound powered by Oh My Days Events.
Drinks-wise, Matcha Mitu will be pouring matcha throughout the night—keeping things buzzy without the usual late-night crash. Even better, part of every ticket sold goes directly to Soul of Chinatown’s Rice Fund, supporting elderly Asian-Australians and others in need across the community.
Insider Intel
- Tickets start at $15 for early birds, with general admission priced at $25—making this one of the feel-good dance parties worth locking in early.
Yan Yan Chan And PIÑA Collab
Shop 4/29 Orwell Street, Potts Point
Image credit: Myles Kalus | Supplied
Yan Yan Chan’s latest collaboration with PIÑA, is a tightly edited, two-item menu that draws from her Northern Chinese upbringing and the conversations she’s long shared with the café’s co-owner Andrew, around food and memory.
Running through to the end of Lunar New Year on March 3, the collaboration is modest in scale but expansive in intention: a reimagined jian bing at PIÑA and a double-matcha affogato at Room 10, with proceeds supporting the Soul Of Chinatown Rice Fund, which provides grocery hampers and meals to elderly Chinese-Australians.
Insider Intel
- The jian bing, a staple of Northern Chinese breakfasts, is where Chan’s personal history comes most clearly into focus. Her version wraps a scallion pancake around fresh Chinese greens, crunchy cucumber and traditional pickled vegetables.
LEO LIN x Capella Sydney
24 Loftus Street, Sydney CBD | February–March 2026
Image credit: Leo Lin Official | Instagram
LEO LIN is partnering with Capella Sydney this year, for a celebration of heritage, artistry and new beginnings. Long considered a go-to for Lunar New Year dressing, the Australian-Chinese label returns for the Year of the Horse with a limited-edition capsule in symbolic shades of red, pink and yellow, featuring hand-sewn organza rose and peony appliqués representing wealth, honour and prosperity.
The celebrations begin with a traditional Eye Dotting Ceremony and Lion Dance on Monday 16 February at 11am in Farrer Place, led by Jin Wu Koon and open to the public. Food lovers should also book into the LEO LIN Lunar New Year Afternoon Tea at Aperture, running 6 February to 3 March, featuring oriental-accented sweet and savoury bites paired with Saicho Jasmine Sparkling Tea.
To mark the partnership, Capella Sydney is also offering a Lunar New Year stay experience layered with luxury. Guests who book directly will receive an exclusive LEO LIN Luxury Pocket Square & Scarf Set, while Capella Suite guests will be gifted a LEO LIN Limited Edition Mahjong Set, featuring motifs from the capsule collection.
Insider Intel
- The Afternoon Tea and Lunar New Year stay packages are expected to book out quickly—lock them in early.
Lunar New Year At The Fullerton Hotel
Lobby Level/1 Martin Place, Sydney CBD
Image credit: The Fullerton Hotel | Instagram
The Fullerton Hotel is putting on a Lunar New Year celebration for the ages. Kicking things off is their afternoon tea: BBQ duck bao sliders, beetroot curd salmon prosperity with citrus jelly, matcha sponge topped with matcha chantilly, yuzu cream and yuzu gel—as well as black sesame scones to go alongside. Available daily at The Bar from 1–28 February, between 12.00pm and 4.00pm, you can choose to upgrade to a drinks offering of tea, coffee, sparkling wine or Veuve Clicquot.
They're also offering a Lunar New Year lunch plate starting at $49.95 per person, featuring Chinese cucumber salad, prawn dumpling, honey-glazed barbecued pork and oolong tea cake.
Insider Intel
- Don't miss the complimentary traditional lion and dragon dance on Friday, 20 February, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Lucky Prawn Lunar New Year Menu
Bob Hawke Beer And Leisure Centre, 8-12 Sydney Street, Marrickville
Image credit: The Lucky Prawn | Instagram
The Lucky Prawn at Bob Hawke's is honouring its Chinese-Australian roots with a limited edition Lunar New Year banquet menu. Think prawn toast, spicy money bags, XO pippies, crab noodles and deep fried viennetta, topped off with a selection of cold pints straight from the tap.
For just $78 per person, there'll also be a traditional lion dance and their Lucky Lager, a speciality rice lager brewed for Lunar New Year.
Insider Intel
- All banquet diners will finish their meal with a red envelope to celebrate the new year.
Spice Temple Sydney
10 Bligh Street, Sydney CBD | 9 February – 3 March
Image credit: Spice Temple | Instagram
Spice Temple is welcoming the Lunar New Year with a limited-edition banquet that leans into symbolism, seasonality and the joy of shared celebration. Running from 9 February to 3 March, the menu follows traditional New Year cues—each dish designed to mark prosperity, longevity and good fortune around the table.
The banquet opens with Pink Snapper Yu Sheng, a prosperity-packed classic, before moving through celebratory seafood dishes like lobster and scallop dumplings and pipies bathed in Shaoxing wine. A steamed coral trout served with longevity noodles anchors the menu, setting the tone for the year ahead.
Seasonal greens keep things balanced before dessert lands on chestnut moon cake paired with honey ice cream.
Insider Intel
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At $159 per person, it’s a distinctly Spice Temple take on Lunar New Year: respectful of tradition, generous in spirit, and best enjoyed as a shared feast
Main image credit: Myles Kalus | Supplied
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