Sydney will hold the biggest celebration of the Lunar New Year outside Asia.

The 2012 Sydney Chinese New Year Festival was unveiled this morning at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo, with a giant Komodo dragon on hand to mark the Year of the Dragon.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the festival was significant for the harbour city.

“It celebrates our Asian community, our Chinese community, our Vietnamese and our Korean communities,” the Australian Associated Press quotes Moore as saying at the launch.

“What our Chinese New Year does is celebrate traditional Chinese culture plus cutting-edge arts and business events.”

Almost 3,000 performers across 80 events will hit Sydney streets in a dazzling parade of colour and light over three weeks from Jan 29.

The City of Sydney has partnered with Chengdu in Sichuan Province, in south-west China, for this year’s celebrations.