Next: 7 to 21 Feb 2027
Lunar New Year
The Spring Festival: the great family reunion dinner, red envelopes, firecrackers, lion dances and fifteen days of visiting.
When is Lunar New Year in 2027?
Lunar New Year 2027 runs from 7 to 21 February 2027. Other years: 2026, 17 February to 3 March 2026; 2028, 26 January to 9 February 2028.
About Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year, called Chunjie or Spring Festival in China, starts on the new moon of the first lunar month and is the most important holiday of the Chinese calendar. Before it, homes are cleaned to sweep away the old year, red couplets are pasted on door frames, and the largest annual human migration takes place as hundreds of millions travel home. On New Year's Eve, the family sits down to a reunion dinner that includes fish, for abundance, and dumplings in the north. Children receive red envelopes with money, and firecrackers and lion dances drive away evil. Each year is linked to one of twelve zodiac animals. Days of visiting relatives follow, closing with the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day.
Lunar New Year dates: 2026, 2027, 2028
| Year | Lunar New Year date |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 17 February to 3 March 2026 |
| 2027 | 7 to 21 February 2027 |
| 2028 | 26 January to 9 February 2028 |
What is eaten
- jiaozi
- nian gao
- whole fish
- tangyuan
- mandarin oranges
Traditions of Lunar New Year
Also part of it, and being written: Chinese zodiac (The twelve-animal cycle that names each year.).
More marked on Lunar New Year
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreDragon dance舞龍 / 舞龙
A long dragon puppet on poles, danced by a team at Chinese New Year and other festivalsPerformance
🇨🇳 Shanghai, China and 1 moreJiaozi餃子
Crescent Chinese dumplings filled with meat or vegetables, eaten for fortune and feastsTable custom · Breakfast
🇨🇳 Shanghai, ChinaTangzhuang唐裝 (traditional), 唐装 (simplified)
A Chinese jacket with a Mandarin collar, worn for formal occasions and holidaysDress
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese paper cutting剪紙 / 剪纸 (jiǎnzhǐ)
Chinese cut paper pictures, pasted on windows and doors for luck at New YearCraft
🇨🇳 Hong Kong, China and 5 moreLunar New Year
New year festivals dated by the moon, kept from East Asia to the Middle EastFestival
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreJoss paper金紙 (jīnzhǐ)
Paper money burned for ancestors and gods, folded and offered in Chinese worshipSpiritual
🇸🇬 Singapore and 2 moreChingay Parade妝藝
A lively street procession of floats, giant flags, and performing arts in Southeast AsiaFestival
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background: "Chinese New Year" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Dragon dance: Caseman, Public domain, source
- Jiaozi: Bioniclepluslotr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chingay Parade: HundenvonPenang, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lion dance: Alfresco24, CC BY 3.0, source
- Tangzhuang: Gobierno de Chile, CC BY 2.0, source
- Chinese paper cutting: Lanneixi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Red envelope: Oldie~commonswiki, Public domain, source
- Lunar New Year: Flying Pharmacist, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Joss paper: Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source