Lawrence Chinese Camp Charitable Trust chairwoman Denise Ng said Chinese community members from throughout New Zealand were expected for the celebrations, which would both welcome the Year of the Rabbit and celebrate the launch of new lesson plans for teaching about early Chinese migrants in schools.
Running from 11am to 3pm on Sunday at the Lawrence Chinese Camp, located about 1.2km from Lawrence on the Beaumont Highway (SH8), the festival will feature Chinese artists from Dunedin and Christchurch, who will perform lion dances, fan and drum dances, and music recitals on the pipa and erhu (traditional Chinese instruments).
The Otago-Southland Chinese Association will be cooking Chinese food for sale to fundraise for the ongoing restoration of the camp, with pig roasters from up north flying in to help prepare traditional Chinese roast pork.
Ms Ng said Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon would be rolling up his sleeves to help out with the pig roasting before giving a speech at the launch.
"This year’s festival is special, with many people going the extra mile because there is a lot of interest in the launch of the Chinese history lesson plans, and the camp being the perfect place for the launch," she said.
"This is an auspicious occasion both culturally and historically ..."
The celebration would welcome in a happy, prosperous and healthy 2023 and the formal beginning of telling regional Chinese stories within the school curriculum.
Official guests would include people from the Chinese history, heritage, archaeology, arts, ethnic and education communities, as well as government representatives.
