FABULOUS feasts, spectacular experiences and magnificent artworks - it's time to celebrate the Year of the Dragon at Club Central Hurstville with a range of events to mark the Lunar New Year.

From Wednesday, February 7, the club will have live entertainment with a fortune teller, traditional Chinese soloist, lion dancing and a visit from the God of Wealth.

While you are celebrating with friends and family enjoy one of the wonderful dining experiences available at Club Central Hurstville including:

Central Cucina - offering high-quality meals drawing on elements from French, Italian and Asian cuisine, along with some classic pub-favourites and an international street food section.

To celebrate Chinese New Year, Central Cucina's amazing pastry chefs have created a delectable treat that's as exquisite as the festivities themselves - a Mandarin Shaped Petit Gateaux!

Immerse your taste buds in layers of perfection with: mandarin curd, mandarin jelly, hazelnut dacquoise, citrus almond sponge and cinnamon crème.

This divine creation will be available throughout the month of February, whilst stocks last, and is only $12.

Don't miss out on the chance to savour the essence of good fortune and sweet beginnings.

Stone Bar & Lounge - The perfect place to spend some time relaxing. Enjoy watching the mega 5m x 3m screen, sink into the comfy lounge chairs and browse the food and beverage menu.

Get into the festivities and order a Year of the Dragon mocktail from Stone Bar & Lounge for only $8.

Club Central Hurstville is also holding a beer special throughout the month of February. The "Cheers to Tsingtao" special offers four Tsingtao bottles for $24.

Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is China's most important and most celebrated festival. It is observed by millions of people around the world.

Those born the Year of the Dragon are charismatic, intelligent, confident and naturally lucky.

Chinese astrology also assigns each year with one of the five elements (metal, water, wood, earth and fire), making 2024 the Year of the Wood Dragon. Wood symbolises creativity and imagination.

To find out more about Club Central Hurstville's Lunar New Year celebrations visit the website at clubcentralhurstville.com.au.

Various cultures celebrate the Lunar New Year, and each has its own way of doing things.

Even how it is calculated varies slightly because there are lunar and lunisolar calendars.

A lunar calendar follows the moon phase, whereas a lunisolar calendar takes the time of the solar year into account (because the moon's orbit around Earth is not in sync with Earth's orbit around the sun).

Many cultures across Asia and some parts of the Middle East still keep track of a traditional lunisolar system, but even so, their New Years don't always coincide with the day (but often still do).

For example, one of the best known, the Chinese New Year, will start on what's considered the first day of spring in China. This is also why it's officially called the Spring Festival in China.

This day will usually be the second new moon after the northern hemisphere's winter solstice (the shortest day of the year in that half of the planet), but occasionally, it's the third (because they have to add a 13th month sometimes to keep the calendar from drifting in relation to the seasons).

The Chinese New Year will be Saturday, February 10, according to the 2024 Gregorian calendar officially used throughout much of the world.

Variations to the way the Lunar New Year is celebrated across different cultures (and even across the far more numerous ethnic groups) include the length of the holidays, the superstitions, customs and specific mythology they follow, and the many other traditions that are observed during the period.

Using China as an example again, it also involves the largest internal migration event in the world as people who have moved away from their parents for work or other pursuits will travel to see family (and couples have even more travel to do to see both families).

According to the South China Morning Post, 9 billion trips were expected to be made in China alone, although extreme winter weather during this year's lead-up is making some of this very difficult or even dangerous.

That said, some take the opportunity to travel internationally while they have time off, especially in countries that have visa-free arrangements and cheap airfares.

As for the celebrations, it helps to know which nationality or cultural group you're interacting with to know which event they're celebrating. After that, you can take an interest in their specific customs and which day it will be celebrated (probably the same as most others, but not always).

In Australia, we'll see the Chinese New Year celebrated in many locations, and each year it is by far the most prominent.

In terms of mythology, looking at the Chinese once more, from February 10, 2024, until January 28, 2025, their zodiac system designates it as the year of the Wood Dragon.

For other cultures, it will be a different animal or mythical creature. In Thailand, for example (and for some other Buddhists), it will be the year of the Naga (part human, part serpent or snake).

On the Old Turkic calendar, it will be the year of the fish.