Buckingham St will be decorated with traditional lanterns for the start of the Year of the Horse, on January 31, until February 15.
Tutor Stan Chan will lead Chinese brush painting workshops for a limited number of patrons aged between 8 and adult, in the Arrowtown Athenaeum Hall on January 31.
The 90-minute workshops cost $5. Materials are provided and classes begin at 9.30am and noon. Bookings are essential via events@summerdaze.co.nz.
Registrations are open for children aged between 6 and 13 to join in themed activities at the Lakes District Museum to celebrate Chinese New Year, for $30 a child.
Education officer Amy Taylor organised a day of Chinese mask-making, exploring the Chinese settlement and learning its history, playing traditional Chinese games, gold-panning in the Arrow River and watching the New Zealand film Illustrious Energy about the hardships faced by Chinese miners.
Taoist T'ai Chi Queenstown hosts free classes of one hour to teach t'ai chi, an act of meditation to promote health and wellbeing, on Buckingham Green at 1pm and 2.30pm.
Dorothy Brown's Cinema presents The Red House, a New Zealand-made romantic drama about a couple in their senior years and of different ethnicities, Kiwi and Chinese, being forced apart by family duties.
The 75-minute debut film by director Alyx Duncan stars Lee Stuart and Meng Jia and won the prize for best self-funded film at the 2012 New Zealand Film Awards.
The Red House will screen at 8.30pm and admission is $18.50 an adult, $15 a student/senior and $10 a child. Booking is advised.
Queenstown Lakes District Council arts and events facilitator Jan Maxwell said although brush painting had been held before and proved popular for Chinese New Year, the date of the holiday period this year fell within the Sumerdaze Festival and could be incorporated into that programme.
