
The New Year is the most important traditional Chinese festival of all, and Barcelona is already preparing for its 2025 edition. The Chinese yearbook is governed by the lunar calendar. That is why each year the dates vary from the Gregorian calendar we know. Thus, the Year of the Snake in China will begin on January 25, 2025.
Since 2014 the city has been celebrating the “Any Nou Xinès amb Barcelona”, with a multitude of Chinese and Catalan entities in the city organizing a whole series of activities to celebrate this date. Although for many of you the New Year has just been celebrated, we tell you everything you need to know to celebrate a New Year with dragons instead of grapes.
We tell you everything you need to know so that this Saturday you can celebrate and congratulate whoever you see a Happy New Year of the Snake.
When and where to celebrate the Chinese New Year 2025 in Barcelona?
The Chinese New Year is officially celebrated in Barcelona on Saturday January 25, although there will be parallel activities to be held in the weeks between late January and early February.
As every year, the Chinese New Year celebration will have as its epicenter the Arc de Triomf and the surroundings of Passeig Lluís Companys, in the district of Ciutat Vella.
12 signs for 12 animals: why 2025 is the year of the Snake?
According to legend, the Emperor of Heaven organized a race with all the animals to choose which of them would enter the horoscope. The first 12 to arrive were: the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the goat, the monkey, the rooster, the dog and the pig.
Therefore, each Chinese year is assigned to one of these animals in a sequence that repeats every 12 years. Thus the Year of the Snake, which is the sixth in the calendar, was celebrated for example in 1953, 1965, 1977, 1988, 2001, 2013, and now again in 20254.
The “Any Nou Xinès amb Barcelona” has been celebrated since 2014 thanks to the collaboration of various entities both Chinese and Catalan, and has had a great public and media impact, not only in Catalonia, but also in China.
In 2018, it received the special honorable mention in the Ciutat de Barcelona Awards of the Institute of Culture of Barcelona, in the category of Popular and Traditional Culture, as an example of “community work from a cross-cutting and citizen cohesion look”.
Chinese New Year program in Barcelona: this will be the big parade of the Spring Festival
Although it will be full of activities, the central event of this Chinese New Year celebration in Barcelona is one of the great central acts.
On Saturday, January 25, at 11 a.m., at the Parc de l’Estació del Nord, the traditional ringing of the gong will signal the start of the celebration and the parade. The parade will follow its usual route through the Fort Pienc neighborhood until it reaches the Arc de Triomf. The route will go up Roger de Flor and turn into Alí Bei Street to reach Nàpols Street, then take Ausiàs March, and when it meets Passeig Sant Joan, it will go down until it reaches Arc de Triomf, where the party will move.
Gastronomic and Cultural Fair: gastronomy, cooking workshops, calligraphy…
As every year, in addition, in Passeig Lluis Companys will be installed from 11h. to 19h the traditional gastronomic and cultural fair where you can find typical Chinese food and all kinds of objects and souvenirs of the Year of the Dragon. Of course, also Chinese food so you can take the opportunity to taste its gastronomy.
Arc de Triomf stage: performance of Chinese New Year’s Eve shows
From 12h. will begin the performances on the stage of Arc de Triomf, which will be presented from 12h. to 14h. and from 17h. to 19h.
In Arc de Triomf will be located a stage that will host dozens of shows of more than 40 Chinese, Catalan and communities such as Indian and Colombian cultural entities.
The morning shows are from 12 to 14 hours on the central stage (under the Arc de Triomf) and the afternoon shows are from 17 to 19 hours on the same stage.
In addition, throughout the midday there will be small format shows and workshops for children, dances, traditional dances or Kung Fu demonstrations.
Parallel activities until February 24
Throughout the month, the Barcelona City Council and various Chinese associations organize art and cooking workshops, lectures, language classes or film screenings, among other activities for the general public.
Check each of the activities and sign up here. Each activity has a specific date, although the program of parallel activities will last until early February.
What to eat on Chinese New Year?
Some time ago we wanted to celebrate Chinese New Year by eating real Chinese food in a real Chinese restaurant, and learning what is the authentic food that is ordered (and not all those adaptations such as three-delicious rice, etc). So, we bring back the video here for you to dive into the subject.
Complete program
We leave you the full program of activities of the Chinese New Year 2025 in Barcelona so you do not miss anything.
Time | Activity | Entity/ies | Place |
---|---|---|---|
Morning | |||
12:15h GMT+1 | Dance of the Bastarda | Diables Vall del Tenes | – |
12:20h GMT+1 | All the luck arrives | School of China-Catalonia Friendship | – |
12:25h GMT+1 | The women of the village with the new year | Group of dances Qimei | – |
12:30h GMT+1 | Dance of Fajas | Esbart Sant Jordi – Joventut Nostra | – |
12:40h GMT+1 | Little Bamboo | Escola Xinesa of Barcelona | – |
12:45h GMT+1 | Dreams of Hetuala | Overseas Association for the Investigation of Manchu Culture | – |
12:50h GMT+1 | Galope | 6th element art | – |
12:55h GMT+1 | Changle Banquet | Hanfu Feiyu Association | – |
13:00h GMT+1 | Galician Dance | Airiños da Nosa Galicia | – |
13:15h GMT+1 | Castellers | Castellers of the Sagrada Familia | – |
13:20h GMT+1 | Magic of Tai Chi | Chinese Taichi Association | – |
13:25h GMT+1 | The song of love | In Studio Bcn | – |
13:30h GMT+1 | Happy Chinese New Year | Chinese-Spanish Trade and Industrial Women’s Association | – |
13:35h GMT+1 | Colombian Dance | Cimarron Feeling | – |
13:40h GMT+1 | Flower stick | Jixiang School of Arts | – |
13:45h GMT+1 | Lion dance | Confucius Institute Foundation of Barcelona, Huaxing Barcelona Artists Group Association, Escola Kungfu Dao Barcelona | – |
Afternoon | |||
17:05h GMT+1 | Lion Dance | Confucius Institute Foundation of Barcelona | – |
17:10h GMT+1 | Party | 6th element art | – |
17:15h GMT+1 | Sample of Marinera Norteña | Chalanes from Barcelona | – |
17:20h GMT+1 | The rhythm of Beijing | Qimei Dance Group | – |
17:25h GMT+1 | Brave | In Studio Bcn | – |
17:30h GMT+1 | Descendants of the dragon | School of China-Catalonia Friendship | – |
17:35h GMT+1 | Colombian dance | Cimarrón Feeling | – |
17:40h GMT+1 | Jingwu | Escola Kungfu Dao Barcelona | – |
17:45h GMT+1 | Bollywood | Nataraja Dance | – |
17:50h GMT+1 | 《Armageddon》 | J6 Dance Studio | – |
18:00h GMT+1 | Incomparable | In Studio Bcn | – |
18:05h GMT+1 | Sample of Marinera Norteña | Chalanes from Barcelona | – |
18:15h GMT+1 | We hang lanterns | Qimei Dance Group | – |
18:20h GMT+1 | Bollywood | Nataraja Dance | – |
18:25h GMT+1 | A red graffiti | 6th element art | – |
18:35h GMT+1 | Spear of flowers | Associació Cultural Popular Xinesa | – |
18:40h GMT+1 | Traditional dances from Armenia | Eni Dance Barcelona | – |
18:45h GMT+1 | Lotus | In Studio Bcn | – |
18:50h GMT+1 | Bang Bang | F.A.S. Dance Group | – |
18:55h GMT+1 | Traditional dances from Armenia | Eni Dance Barcelona | – |
19:00h GMT+1 | Dragon Dance | Association Group of artists Huaxing Barcelona | – |