Date: Saturday 21st February 2026
Times: 12pm – 3pm
Location: Boscombe Sovereign Centre
Key Takeaways
• The Chinese New Year event brought over 500 visitors to Boscombe, increasing footfall and town centre activity.
• High quality cultural performances created a vibrant, family friendly atmosphere that encouraged longer visits and local spending.
• Strong partnerships with regional cultural groups ensured an authentic and engaging celebration.
• The event supported BID priorities by promoting Boscombe as a distinctive destination and driving engagement with local businesses.
• Civic support from the Mayor reinforced the importance of multicultural events in strengthening community pride and inclusion.
Chinese New Year in Boscombe
Welcome to year of the fire horse! We entered this Chinese New Year with an amazing celebration in Boscombe highlighting so many wonderful points of culture and yearly traditions by putting on an amazing Chinese New Year celebratory event.
Running from 12pm the event kicked off with an eye-catching dragon dance performed by the Chinese Association of Southampton dragon team. The dragon was paraded and danced all throughout the Sovereign Centre to bring good luck and fortune to everyone involved inside and out before heading back to the stage to prepare for our next acts.
We had all kinds of acts and entertainment throughout the day which included classic Chinese dancing, a captivating Chinese music ensemble and an impressive Kung Fu display all courtesy of the Chinese Association of Southampton who once again made this event so special. The Bournemouth Chinese school had been training for months to ensure they delivered a striking aerial show, and they certainly did, the audience was very impressed by all of their performances as it showed the amazing culture and told a story throughout. Many thanks must go to the London Red Peony Ethnic Minorities Art troupe who performed three special Chinese cultural dances, each being incredible in their own individual way, with special thanks to all involved for travelling all the way from London to treat us to their amazing demonstration and personification of their culture. A highlight from many in the audience was communicated to be the lion dance, performed by the Waterside Lion Dance Group. The dance captured the essence of Chinese New Year culture perfectly and really engaged with the audience during their performance which especially delighted all the children in the front rows!
This event held in the heart of Boscombe really captured an audience, with over 500 people coming to show support and engage with the culture on show as well as engaging with Coastal BID and our businesses in the area. With this event we targeted multiple of our main pillars in our mission including: better businesses, enhanced environment and distinctive destination. The event really encouraged people to engage with our businesses in Boscombe as it gave people a specific reason to come out and show support.
A big thanks must also go to the Mayor of Bournemouth, CClr Jackie Edwards, for attending the event and showing her support and offering such kind words in her speech to all involved. Her attendance really amplifies the importance of multi-cultural events like these in our prolific areas around Bournemouth to enhance and feed the communities.
