London is celebrating the Chinese New Year. Visitors to London's Trafalgar Square, Leicester (Lester) Square and Chinatown district welcomed in the Year of the Tiger in traditional style with Chinese arts, food, firecrackers and fireworks.

 

In Trafalgar Square, festivities began with the lighting of long streams of Chinese firecrackers, followed by a spectacular acrobatic Lion dance where two dancers leapt from high podium to high podium. Visitors to Trafalgar Square also saw a variety of Chinese song and dance acts by both home-grown and Chinese born artists. Organizers say the Chinese New Year celebrations began as a very small community event in Chinatown more than twenty years ago. They have now grown to be a major free public event, attracting Chinese people, Londoners and tourists.

Andrea Rostron, South African Tourist, said, "It was fun to watch the dragons catch the cabbage with the good luck envelope, so that was quite fun to watch, yeah."

Peter Barnes, Visitor, said, "It's just been nice to be in London having a nice day out, experiencing a different culture."