Lunar New Year 2026

When Is Lunar New Year in 2026?

In 2026, Lunar New Year falls on February 17. The observance lasts 15 days (Lantern Festival on day 15). Because Lunar New Year follows a First day of the lunisolar Chinese calendar (new moon between January 21 and February 20); Vietnamese Tet and Korean Seollal follow the same lunisolar date, the exact Gregorian date shifts each year. The lunisolar new moon is a fixed instant in UTC; the corresponding local date can differ by a day across the International Date Line. China and Vietnam observe on the same date; Korean Seollal can occasionally fall a day earlier than the Chinese date due to the timezone difference and the exact new moon timing. Since Lunar New Year's date changes from year to year, here are the dates for the next five years so you can plan ahead: Year Date 2026 February 17 2027 February 6 2028 January 26 2029 February 13 2030 February 3

What Time Does Lunar New Year Start in Your Time Zone?

Lunar New Year falls on the day of the new moon, calculated by the Chinese lunisolar calendar. In 2026, the new year begins on February 17 — a Tuesday. Because the date is determined astronomically, the same date applies everywhere in the world. A Chinese family in Beijing, a Vietnamese family in Hanoi, and a Chinese-American family in San Francisco all observe Lunar New Year on the same Gregorian date. The difference is what time the celebrations begin: in East Asia, the reunion dinner happens on the evening of February 16, while in the Americas, that same dinner falls on the morning of February 16 local time — since Asia is a day ahead. The lunar new year is celebrated not only by Chinese communities but also by Vietnamese (who call it Tet), Koreans (Seollal), Mongolians (Tsagaan Sar), and Tibetans (Losar, though often on a slightly different date due to a different calendar). The Vietnamese zodiac differs slightly from the Chinese — 2026 will be the Year of the Horse in both calendars, but the Vietnamese Year of the Cat replaces the Chinese Year of the Rabbit. Korean Seollal is more subdued than Chinese New Year, focused on ancestral rites and family rather than firecrackers and parades. The table below shows the observance date for Lunar New Year in major time zones around the world: Location Observance Date Time Zone New York, USA February 17 EST/EDT (UTC-5/-4) London, UK February 17 GMT/BST (UTC+0/+1) New Delhi, India February 17 IST (UTC+5:30) Sydney, Australia February 17 AEST/AEDT (UTC+10/+11) Dubai, UAE February 17 GST (UTC+4)

The Story Behind Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year — also called Chinese New Year, Spring Festival (Chunjie in Mandarin), or Tet in Vietnamese — is the most important traditional holiday in China, Vietnam, Korea, and many overseas Chinese communities. It marks the beginning of the lunar calendar year, which falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. The festival is an ancient one, with roots going back at least 3,500 years to the Shang dynasty, when end-of-winter rituals were performed to honor gods and ancestors and to ward off evil spirits. The most famous legend associated with Lunar New Year is the story of Nian, a ferocious beast that lived under the sea or in the mountains and emerged on the new year to devour livestock, crops, and children. According to legend, an old man discovered that Nian feared three things: the color red, loud noises, and bright lights. From that year forward, people decorated their doors with red couplets, set off firecrackers, and lit lanterns through the night to drive Nian away. To this day, red is the dominant color of the holiday — red envelopes (hongbao in Mandarin, lai see in Cantonese) filled with money are given to children, red lanterns hang in every doorway, and the greeting "Guo Nian" literally means "to pass the Nian." Above all, Lunar New Year is a family holiday. The most important meal of the entire year is the reunion dinner (tuan nian fan) on New Year's Eve, when families gather from across the country and around the world. In China, the world's largest annual human migration — chunyun — sees some 3 billion individual trips taken in the weeks around the holiday, as workers in coastal cities travel back to interior provinces to be with their parents and children. The reunion dinner table groans with symbolic foods: dumplings shaped like ancient gold ingots, fish (the word for fish, yu, sounds like the word for abundance), long noodles for long life, and sticky rice cakes (nian gao) that symbolize rising prosperity.

How Lunar New Year Is Celebrated

Lunar New Year is celebrated over 15 days, culminating in the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the new year. Each day has its own traditions. New Year's Day itself is for family: visits to paternal grandparents, vegetarian meals in some regions to honor Buddhist tradition, and the giving of red envelopes. The second day is for married daughters to visit their own parents (a tradition that's evolved as families become more flexible). The third day is traditionally a day of rest — visiting extended family or friends is considered bad luck. The fifth day welcomes the God of Wealth, with businesses reopening and firecrackers to drive away poverty. The visual and aural signature of Lunar New Year is overwhelming. Red paper couplets (chunlian) with auspicious phrases are pasted on either side of every doorway. Paper cutouts of the year's zodiac animal decorate windows. Lion and dragon dances fill the streets, with troupes moving from shop to shop to bring luck in exchange for red envelopes. Firecrackers and fireworks are set off constantly — traditionally to drive away Nian, today also simply because they're festive. Mainland China and many diaspora cities (Singapore, Hong Kong, San Francisco) hold massive fireworks displays over harbors. The Chinese zodiac assigns one of twelve animals to each year, cycling every 12 years. 2026 is the Year of the Horse — specifically the Fire Horse, since the cycle of five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) overlays the 12-year animal cycle to create a 60-year full cycle. People born in the Year of the Horse are said to be energetic, clever, and warm-hearted. The zodiac matters enormously during Lunar New Year, when families consult fortune tellers about the year ahead and people born in their zodiac year (benmingnian) take extra precautions against bad luck by wearing red underwear and red strings around their wrists. Why Does Lunar New Year Move Every Year? The Chinese calendar is lunisolar — it tracks both lunar months and the solar year. Lunar months are 29 or 30 days long, which means a lunar year is about 354 days, 11 short of the solar year. To keep the lunar calendar aligned with the seasons, the Chinese system inserts a leap month about every three years (seven times in 19 years). This is why Lunar New Year stays in the late January to mid-February window, rather than drifting through the seasons like Eid. The exact date of Lunar New Year is the second new moon after the winter solstice (around December 21). This means the earliest possible date is January 21, and the latest is February 21. In 2026, Lunar New Year is February 17. In 2027, it will be February 6. In 2028, it will be January 26. The 19-year Metonic cycle that underlies the Chinese calendar means that Lunar New Year dates nearly repeat every 19 years — though small adjustments keep the system accurate over centuries.

Calendar Calculation

First day of the lunisolar Chinese calendar (new moon between January 21 and February 20); Vietnamese Tet and Korean Seollal follow the same lunisolar date

Traveling for Lunar New Year? Where to Go

Lunar New Year triggers the largest annual human migration on Earth. China's chunyun ("spring transport") period lasts roughly 40 days, during which an estimated 3 billion individual trips are taken — workers returning from coastal factory cities to interior provinces, students coming home, families visiting relatives. The Chinese railway system runs extra high-speed trains around the clock, and ticket sales open 60 days in advance, often selling out within hours. Internationally, Lunar New Year is a peak travel period for diaspora Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean communities flying home for the holiday, and for tourists heading to Asia to witness the festivities. Top destinations for this holiday: Beijing: — A popular destination with significant celebrations and cultural events. Hong Kong: — A popular destination with significant celebrations and cultural events. Hanoi: — A popular destination with significant celebrations and cultural events. Seoul: — A popular destination with significant celebrations and cultural events. Singapore: — A popular destination with significant celebrations and cultural events. If you're planning to travel for lunar new year, compare hotel rates and book early — accommodations in Beijing fill up weeks before the festival. [Search hotels for Lunar New Year travel →]

Did You Know? Lunar New Year Facts & Trivia

The Chinese zodiac assigns one of 12 animals to each year, cycling every 12 years. The full zodiac cycle — including the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) — takes 60 years to complete. A person born in 2026 (Year of the Fire Horse) will not see the same zodiac combination until 2086. The chunyun — the annual Lunar New Year travel rush in China — is the largest annual human migration on Earth. In 2024, an estimated 9 billion individual trips were taken during the 40-day chunyun period, including rail, road, air, and water transport. Red envelopes (hongbao) containing money are given to children and unmarried adults during Lunar New Year. In the digital age, virtual red envelopes sent via WeChat and Alipay have become the dominant form — over 80 billion digital red envelopes were sent in 2024 alone. Lunar New Year is celebrated by 2 billion people worldwide, making it the most widely observed festival on Earth. The festival is a public holiday in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, and Brunei.