The Year of the Tiger made a dramatic entrance across the City with a Lion Dance parade from The Cross to the Town Hall.

Cheshire West and Chester Council helped the newly formed Wah Lei Chinese Association with its plans for the celebrations, which also included Chinese paper craft workshops, martial arts demonstrations and food sampling.

The colourful display included firecrackers, drums and gongs to scare away any evil and bad fortune.

A Chinese legend says that long ago a monster terrorized people and animals at the end of the year.

It was discovered that this animal was frightened of loud noise, bright lights and the colour red. So, at midnight, on the last day of the old year, these things are used to chase away the monster.

Chair of the Wah Lei Association, Mia Tan said: “We are delighted that Chester's first Chinese New Year festival went off with a bang and has brought so many people together to celebrate the Year of the Tiger.

“The colourful traditional Lion dance across the city was breathtaking and it was fantastic to see children with their parents and grandparents making origami water lily lanterns together, which were lit and floated onto the Shropshire Union Canal to welcome in the spring.

“A huge thank you to all our volunteers, supporters and sponsors in particular CHAWREC, CWAC, British Waterways, Chester Cathedral and Iceland who have made this festival celebration possible.”

The Council’s Equality and Diversity Champion, Councillor Razia Daniels said: “It was wonderful to see so many people enjoying themselves at this celebration. This was a first for Chester and I’m sure we can build on the success of this event and have a wonderful Chinese New Year celebration in the city for many years to come.”

British Waterways manager Wendy Capelle said the slow running canal provided a fitting setting for the floating lantern display, which formed a highlight of the celebrations.

“Exciting displays like this are an important part of our culture and we were delighted to be of assistance in helping supervise the event and gather up the lanterns afterwards,” said Mrs Capelle.

The Wah Lei Chinese Association exists to promote harmony and help improve the economic, social and cultural well being. To find out more about the Wah Lei Chinese Association visit www.wahlei.org.uk.