More than 500 people- over half of them Kiwis- gathered at Whangarei's Forum North on Saturday to celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival or the Year of the Rooster with music, dance and food.
The event was organised by the Chinese Association of Northland and among the performers were students from the Whangarei Intermediate School and the Chinese Blossom Art Troupe from Auckland.
A queue formed outside Forum North from 5pm as guests were ushered towards the dinner tables before entertainment started at 7pm.
Association president Tony Shi was happy with the turnout and said it was great to showcase Chinese culture and tradition to a large number of non-Chinese guests.
He said the association planned to make the event an annual affair and hoped to see more people at next year's festival.
Whangarei mayor Sheryl Mai, Northland Regional Council chairman Bill Shepherd and Whangarei MP Dr Shane Reti were the chief guests on Saturday evening.