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Celebrate Chinese New Year in Covent Garden: Dining, Shopping, and Cultural Experiences

By February 4, 2025 Article

Enjoy a bespoke Covent Garden red packet: A selection of brands across Covent Garden will be handing out bespoke red packet gift sets for customers who shop or dine from January 29th to February 2nd. The red envelopes, traditionally used to gift money as a symbol of luck and good fortune, are provided empty, allowing recipients to personalise their gifts for friends and family. Each gift set includes a pair of traditional couplets, the iconic Chinese character “Fu,” and two vibrant red envelopes. Participating brands offering the gift packets include AWAY, Buns & Buns, Charlotte Tilbury, Guerlain, Miller Harris, PDPAOLA, RedFarm and Strathberry.

 Celebrate with Food

Offering everything from dumplings to dim sum, sushi to sweet buns, Covent Garden is a vibrant food hub for Asian fusion cuisine with renowned restaurants like Buns & Buns, Din Tai Fung, RedFarm, Sticks’n’Sushi and SUSHISAMBA. New Year highlights include Din Tai Fung’s special menu consisting of “Lion’s Head” Pork Meatball Soup paired with a ‘Golden Twist’ cocktail and RedFarm’s iconic dim sum, including ‘London’s biggest dumplings’ served with a straw. For sweet treats, Wheelcake Island based in Seven Dials Market offers a mixture of Taiwanese treats including their soft fluffy pancakes. For a little extra luck this Chinese New Year, Din Tai Fung are also giving away 100 free baskets of their award-winning Xiao Long Bao soup dumplings to those who discover a hidden golden “Snake Charm” inside their dumpling basket. For your chance to win, simply pair any New Year drinks with your Xiao Long Bao order.

Exclusive Lunar New Year Shopping

Looking for the perfect gift? Covent Garden is your destination for endless exclusive Lunar New Year products. Highlights include Charlotte Tilbury’s empowering new limited-edition refillable lipsticks in exclusive twinkling packaging, Strathberry’s limited-edition snake print silk scarves and luxury leather accessories and Mariage Frères exclusive Year of the Snake Thé des Signes® featuring hypnotising flavours of green tea, mint & goji berries. Exclusive collections are also available at American Vintage, Barbour, Guerlain, Paul Smith, Polo Ralph Lauren, Radley, Ray Ban, Swatch and more.

Celebrate with exclusive services and interactive experiences

Covent Garden is celebrating Chinese New Year with a vibrant array of interactive activities. Visitors can enjoy a variety of experiences curated to make gift giving even more special, including complimentary calligraphy on luxury gifts at Diptyque on 25th January and at Jo Malone London on 26th January, complimentary personalisation at Aspinal of London on 29th January and complimentary embossing at Strathberry on 2nd February. For an extra special interactive community celebration of the New Year, Peloton London Studio’s leading UK instructors, Hannah Frankson and Susie Chan, will lead a Lunar 5K Run starting at their Floral Street studios in Covent Garden to Chinatown and back, followed by post-workout treats.

Cultural Extravaganza

Finally, just a short walk from Covent Garden lies Chinatown, the hub of the annual Chinese New Year celebrations. This year, the festivities will take place on Sunday, February 2nd, with thousands expected to gather in London’s West End to welcome the Year of the Snake. The event promises an unforgettable experience, featuring a lively parade, striking displays, and vibrant performances throughout Chinatown. It’s the perfect destination to immerse yourself in the festivities while enjoying a day out in Covent Garden.

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