The event will be held on February 25th at Piazzale Michelangelo from 14 to 18 at the end of the celebrations for the new Chinese New Year. The initiative is sponsored by the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Florence and in collaboration with the Municipality of Florence.
According to Chinese mythology, the origin of the spring party is traced back to an ancient legend, according to which in ancient times a monster called Nian (年) lived in China. Also according to legend, Nian would have been usually out of his lair once every 12 months to eat humans; The only way to escape this blood tribute was to scare the Nian, sensitive to the strong noise and terrified by the red color. For this reason, always according to legend, every 12 months it is used to celebrate the new year with songs, streps, fireworks and with the massive use of the red color. An echo of this legend may have remained in the lion’s ritual dance, a tradition practiced during the holidays in which he parades on the streets chasing a lion mask, which would represent the Nian.
