CityLife

Tiger roars at Chinese festival

BBC Silk Screens comes to Exchange Square tomorrow to mark the end of China Now, the UK's largest-ever festival of Chinese culture.

In the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, Silk Screens offers a series of free outdoor film screenings and live events in cities across the UK, focusing on the lives of British Chinese. It is supported by Manchester city council.

Exchange Square will be awash with colour and music as the Chinese Arts Centre transforms the surroundings from concrete jungle to oriental garden. A 20ft-high white tiger, animated by five people, will weave through the crowd, accompanied by dragons and martial arts groups. Chinese pop songs and Shanghai jazz will feature, as well as performances of traditional Chinese dance.

Films on the big screen in Exchange Square include Chinese Scouser and Journey to the West, in which children at a Sunday Chinese school in Manchester prepare a play exploring their cultural roots.

Exchange Square. 12-6pm. The films from Manchester will be screened at the start of the event between noon and 12.30pm and repeated 4.30pm to 5.30pm. Live events start at 2pm. Visit bbc.co.uk/videonation/feature/silkscreens or chinanow.org.uk