The Chinese Year of the Dragon began with a lively Lunar New Year Fair, held for the first time at Leeds Minster and which attracted some 900 visitors.
The historic building was packed with stalls, food and and welcome guests from local churches with Cantonese-speaking people, many of whom have arrived from Hong Kong recently.
The UK has seen around 125,000 people from Hong Kong move to the UK since 2021 and as a result Chinese churches in the UK are the fastest growing.
Canon Paul Maybury, Rector of Leeds City, said the inaugural had been a great success:
"It was a great joy for Leeds Minster to host our first Lunar New Year fair.
“It was an excellent use of our space and facilities and a pleasure to support the various churches in the city serving the Cantonese-speaking community.
“Our hope was to engage the wider population in Leeds and that is exactly what happened. It was a terrific success and we look forward to the possibility of a repeat event next year,” said Canon Paul.
Revd Dave Ho Young of St Barnabas, Alwoodley was part of the team behind the event and said people from different cultures had been brought together and he thanked all who took part.