3,000 candles mark lunar year at Marina Market

A free event with 3,000 candles will take place in the Marina Market this evening to mark the end of the Chinese lunar new year celebrations.

Monks and nuns from the Buddhist Esoteric School, along with representatives of the major faith traditions in Ireland, are gathering to lead a multi-cultural, multi-faith ceremony for love and peace.

The original venue, The Unitarian Church, was destroyed by a fire a few weeks ago, leaving the organisers scrambling to find another venue.

Buddhist nuns had already booked flights to attend the event, with organiser Mary O’Connor telling The Echo at the time, “There are long chants, so we need people who are very accomplished chanters.

“They need to have been practising for a very long time. We fly around the world to support each other, so having the fire happen just before their visit was devastating.”

However, the Cork-born Buddhist nun, who is also the leader of the Hanmi Esoteric Buddhist in Ireland, shared the good news that a Buddhist altar will be erected in the Marina Market just for this event.

She said, “It was a difficult few weeks, finding an alternative venue, given the logistics involved, but we had nuns flying in especially for this, so I threw it out into the universe, and the manager at the Marina Market caught it and generously has provided the venue.”

Members of the public are invited to come, light candles, and make wishes, with O’Connor explaining, “once a candle is lit, it’s an offering and must go out naturally”.

Musicians including Declan Sinnott, Evelyn Kallansee, Sitar player Dara O’Brien, Hamid Wentzel and Omkar Vaze, with Indian and Afghani Classical Music, The Fresh Air Collective, with Edel Sullivan, Ruti Lachs and Eileen Healy, will perform.

The event begins at 5pm with a performance by Bhavana Anand, a renowned Indian classical dancer, and will be officially opened by Cork Lord Mayor Cllr Kieran McCarthy.

• See https://corkchinesenewyear.com/