February in Sydney

 I have always thought of January as the most festive in Sydney, due to the festival and all the banners and art that pop up around the city, but when talking to a soon to arrive visitor, I realise it's February.

All the shops dress their windows for Valentine's Day - a prelude pushing sales that begins a few weeks before hand. Many are also dressed for the Lunar New Year or Mardi Gras. 

Lunar New Year brings giant lanterns to the streets, as well as the traditional lion dance and lucky packets everywhere you go. 

Mardi Gras brings banners and sequins and shiny, glittery things to the shop windows and streets and sometimes the buildings are lit up in pink or rainbow.

It's actually a really colourful and fun time to be in Sydney as all three hit at once.

As I said in this old post - being single doesn't need to get you down on Valentine's day, as there's other celebrations to join in anyway!

Unfortunately, I haven't been into the city to see what's afoot yet, so these pics are Yokohama, Tokyo, and two local shops, a bakery and a gemstone shop which I suspect carry the flags all the time as decorations. 

Hopefully next week, I'll get the real seasonal photos!

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