On February 17th, 2026, Lunar New Year is celebrated globally (also known as Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival). This is one of China’s largest and most important celebrations, also celebrated by many Asian cultures, which recognizes the coming of spring and the start of the Lunisolar Year. In China this is a 15 day celebration that starts on the second new moon after the winter solstice, landing in either late January or February.
There is a 12-year cycle of Chinese New Year, each year representing a different zodiac animal. The zodiacs are the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. This year, 2026, is the year of the Horse in the cycle, but also the Fire Horse, occurring every 60 years. This means that this year will bring fast change, extreme energy, independence, and transformation.
Modern traditions include having many family reunion dinners, eating symbolic foods, giving out red envelopes or chocolate gold coins, decorating or wearing red, spring cleaning, and participating or watching dragon dances or parades. At large dinners, people often eat food such as dumplings, rice cakes, long noodles or fish that can symbolize wealth, growth, longevity or abundance. They also give chocolate gold coins and red envelopes of money, typically to kids or younger members to symbolize good luck, prosperity, and blessings of fortune for the year. Spring cleaning before New Year’s is to clean away the bad fortune and bring good fortune. For decoration and clothes, red is mainly worn to cause good luck but to also ward off evil spirits, the main one being the Nian Beast. Often depicted as a lion-like beast, according to the legend on New Year’s Eve, it crawls up from the oceans and eats and terrorizes villagers and children. Loud sounds like firecrackers and fireworks, the color red, and fire scares it off. This is also the reason for lion and dragon dancing and loud parades. A common greeting during Lunar New Year is “Gong Xi Fa Cai” which is meant as “Happy New Year” but its literal meaning is “Wish you enlarge your wealth”. These are many of the traditional celebrations during Lunar New Year.
In New York City there are many celebrations and parades for the Year of the Fire Horse. On March 1st, the NYC Chinatown Lunar New Year Festival and Parade features performances like lion dancing, martial arts, and large floats. Another event is the 28th Annual Lunar New Year Firecracker Ceremony where to ward off evil spirits, firecrackers (by the thousands) are set off in Sara D. Roosevelt Park on February 17th. There are many other events all over NY, too!
