Ultimate Guide to Lunar New Year & the Best Places to Celebrate

Lunar New Year is the biggest celebration in China, Southeast, and East Asia, when millions don new clothes and dance with lions and dragons. It's a season for family connections and fireworks, and is loaded with symbolism that infuses the food on the table, the clothes worn, and traditions of gift giving.

The 2026 Lunar New Year falls on Tuesday 17 February and celebrations and commemorations run for 15 days until 3 March; 2026 is the Year of the Horse.

This is your ultimate guide to Lunar New Year and the best (and loudest!) places to celebrate.

Lunar New Year has its roots in the land and the arrival of spring, a celebration of new life that marks the end of winter - in fact, you'll often hear it called the Spring Festival. Get your moon calendars out; the festival begins on the second new moon after the winter solstice, and ends on the full moon, 15 days later, which is usually marked by a Lantern Festival.

In simple terms, the first day of the new year usually falls between January 21 and February 20 each year.

Originating in China, the tradition spread across Asia - the new year's festivals of Tet in Vietnam and Seollal in South Korea have their roots in the Chinese celebration, but have customised their festivities with local traditions.

So, what's with the dragons, firecrackers, and why is everyone wearing red?

Lunar New Year comes with plenty of traditions and practices to ensure a year of good luck. Red is the luckiest colour at this time, and lanterns and ear-splitting firecrackers are a signature sound during the celebrations. An ancient Chinese myth told of the evil beast Nian, who would emerge from the sea to devour children and livestock on the last day of the year. One year, the story goes, villagers used bright lanterns, firecrackers, the crash of drums, and the colour red to scare the monster away - and a tradition was born.

Loaded with symbolism, there are plenty of customs during the celebrations, many come from the sound of words - unlucky 4 sounds like 'death' in several languages including Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, and Korean, while the word for lucky 8 sounds like 'wealth' or 'fortune'. There are a whole raft of traditions associated with funerals or death that everyone avoids in this celebration of fresh beginnings.

Blessed, celestial beings, dragons are the ultimate good-luck creatures. Their association with the new year goes way back to its agricultural roots; powerful and wise, these heavenly dwellers are the bringers of rain and water. And when they dance at the Lunar New Year parades, they frighten off evil spirits and bring good luck and blessings.

Are you an artistic goat? A wealthy pig? Perhaps a brave and down-to-earth tiger? Or maybe you were born into the luckiest sign of them all, the dragon, which symbolises power, nobility and success.

There are 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, which rotate on a 12-year cycle, one animal reigns for the year. Depending on the year you were born into, the animal determines your personality, your fate, and your ideal love match. For example, those born in the Year of the Horse (in 2026, 2014, 2002, 1990 etc) are energetic, dynamic, and successful.

The zodiac also has five elements — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water — which pair with the animals, so you'll get a Fire Horse or Metal Dog, depending on where you are in the 60-year cycle.

Dragons have a special place in the Lunar New Year as the luckiest of all animals; are you born into the Year of the Dragon?

Wherever you go during Lunar New Year, you can't miss lanterns - red lanterns are a hot favourite, incorporating red for luck, and the lanterns themselves symbolise light, wealth and new beginnings as the old year closes and a year of fresh possibilities awaits.

During Lunar New Year, red envelopes, known as hongbao (in Mandarin) or lai see (in Cantonese), contain gifts of money and symbolise prosperity and good luck in the coming year.

Gifted on New Year's Eve by older relatives to children and young adults, it's also common for managers to present employees with the envelopes during Lunar New Year celebrations.

When giving money, it's customary to use only crisp, smooth notes (not coins), and avoid the bad luck number 4, (it sounds like the word for death), while 8 - which sounds like wealth - is a lucky number. Many people now send their gifts of money via digital hongbao.

Across Asia, the lead-up to Lunar New Year, Tet, and Seollal is hectic; there's no other way to describe it. It's the time to be with family, and the cities empty as people return to their homes to celebrate with kin. That means packed planes, trains, buses, and roads as the mad dash home begins for millions and millions of folk in what is the region's peak travel season.

The best piece of advice for travellers during Lunar New Year is to book ahead for accommodation and transport.

Good to know: at least the first two days of the new year are public holidays in most countries, so expect the closure of banks and government offices, and don't plan to buy visas or undertake any other bureaucratic chores during the holiday season.

In the larger cities, you might see foreign tourists outnumbered by locals who, having filled up on all the ceremonial foods and fulfilled all family obligations, now have a few days to wander past the sights, although many shops remain closed.

• Wear new clothes on the first day of the New Year - red is the colour of luck and gold's a great alternative.
• Tuck into some 'lucky' foods - delicious dumplings and spring rolls, made to look like gold ingots, represent wealth, while prawns are a symbol of happiness. Looking for prosperity? Order the fish.
• Go hard on the red; red clothes, red lanterns, red envelopes for gifting.
• Get your hair cut and clean the house before New Year's Day, so you see the new year in, fresh and clean.

• Don't talk about bad news - stay positive and speak only good.
• Don't wash or cut your hair on the first day of the new year - you'll wash away your good luck.
• Don't clean your house for the first three days for the same reason; all that fortune will be swept away from you.
• Don't wear black or white, unlucky colours traditionally worn at funerals or in mourning. And don't wear torn or damaged clothing.
• If visiting friends, ditch the cut flowers (again, associated with funerals) and never gift a watch or clock (the phrase '"giving a clock" sounds like the phrase "attending a funeral ritual").

Beijing goes back to its roots during Lunar New Year, with traditional temple fairs and family reunions, and the Forbidden City is strewn with lanterns. Meanwhile, modern Shanghai has fireworks and light displays, and you'll notice an uptick in local tourists promenading on the Bund and other tourist sites during their holidays.

Across China, anyone who can leaves town to visit family, so planes and trains are next-level packed. The 'Ice City' of Harbin, in far north-eastern China, is a favourite for seeing in the new year with its ice festival and plenty of snow, while spectacular fire dragon dances often mark the end of the 15-day celebratory period; the most famous is the Tongliang Fire Dragon in Chongqing province.

Hong Kong goes all out for its most important festival, which is a three-day public holiday. The first day sees a dazzling float display through Tsim Sha Tsui and on day three, you can see if all your dumpling eating has improved your luck at the Sha Tin racecourse, which holds its Chinese New Year horse races along with lion dances.

Get ready and practice your Happy New Year greetings in Cantonese ("Kung Hei Fat Choi!") or Mandarin ("Gong Xi Fa Cai!").

Head to Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown to see Trut Chin, Thailand's biggest Lunar New Year celebration, where its Chinese-Thai community rings in the new year. The streets are closed for evening parades and street food stalls, or watch the fireworks from a cruise down the Chao Phraya River. On the less traditional front, there are plenty of lunar new year's eve parties on the city's rooftop bars.

You'll also find celebrations in the major hubs of Phuket, and if in the mountainous northern city of Chiang Mai, the action centres around Warorot Market; drop in to taste celebratory snacks on the street. Lanterns are everywhere on the 15th day as the community winds up the party with the Lantern Festival.

Not to be confused with the official Thai New Year, Songkran, which occurs a few months later, Lunar New Year isn't a public holiday in Thailand, so government offices and shops remain open.

With a significant Asian population and the love of a good party, every Australian capital city sees in the Lunar New Year with a festival, lantern parades and dragon dances. The country's biggest celebration is the Sydney Lunar Festival, held in the centrally located Chinatown in Haymarket, with dragon boat races on Darling Harbour.

Melbourne and Brisbane also revel in all the red, fireworks, dragons, and dining; in Brisbane, look for the BrisAsia Festival, with events in Sunnybank and Fortitude Valley, while Melbourne sees Hanfu parades (historical Han Chinese attire) and festivals in Chinatown, Queen Victoria Market, and Federation Square, as well as its key Vietnamese hubs in Richmond, Springvale, and St Albans.

And it's not just capital cities. Bendigo, 150 kilometres north of Melbourne in regional Victoria, has some of Australia's oldest links with China, following a wave of Chinese migrants during its gold-rush years in the 1850s. The legacy of its Chinese citizens lives on and the city is custodian of Loong, at 120 years old, the world's oldest processional dragon, who made his debut here in 1901, as well as Sun Loong, the world's longest imperial parade dragon, built in Foshan, China in 1970; both are now retired. Their replacement is Dai Gum Loong, who dances each year to display his full beauty. At 125 metres long, with 7000 hand-embroidered, hand-painted scales, Dai Gum Loong is the world's longest Chinese dragon. The three dragons live in Bendigo's Golden Dragon Museum; pair it with a visit to the Bendigo Joss House Temple, which opened for worship in 1871.

Singapore loves a photo op, so expect the streets through Chinatown to be lit with lanterns and light shows featuring the zodiac animal of the new year. There's also dancing in the streets as Asia's largest street festival, the Chingay Parade, takes over the city with street performances and floats celebrating the country's multiculturalism. While it's kid-friendly, it's also going to be noisy!

In this food-obsessed city, traditional dishes include Yu Sheng, a raw fish salad tossed joyfully into the air as it's prepared, and elaborate, traditional songs and dances performed in Chinatown. The first two days are official public holidays in Singapore, so prepare for closures across the country.

As in other countries, family is at the heart of Lunar New Year amongst Malaysia's Chinese community. Here, the Lunar New Year red envelopes are called ang pow and gifted to children and younger, unmarried relatives.

All the action in Kuala Lumpur happens at KLCC Park and Thean Hou Temple, and the streets are awash with red lanterns, and clash and roar with the noise of fireworks and lion and dragon dances. Symbolic foods to try include the sticky rice cake nian gao and bright orange mandarins, often given as a good-luck gift.

The first two days are always national public holidays, but the celebrations last the full 15 days, ending with the Chap Goh Mei festival. The most famous one takes place in Penang, where it's branded 'Chinese Valentine's Day' as single women throw mandarins into the sea to bring a good husband. (In a modern twist, there might be a phone number written on the skin!).

Why is everyone jumping at midnight? Because you'll grow taller! The Tsinoy (Filipino-Chinese) New Year celebrations in Manila have a special tinge; the inner-city district of Binondo is home to the world's oldest Chinatown, established in 1594. Expect huge crowds and midnight fireworks.

Here, the new year is heralded in with Media Noche (a midnight feast) with round fruits, fireworks, and red envelopes, called ang pao in the Philippines. Try the tikoy (sticky rice cake), the steamed cake called huat kueh and fish for prosperity. And polka dots are considered to bring good fortune - the circles look like coins - so if you're in Manila, break out the spots!

Founded in 1740, Glodok Chinatown is the oldest Chinese community in Jakarta, and is lit with red lanterns during Lunar New Year with barongsai, as lion dances are called locally, and dragon dances taking over the streets on the first day.

During Tahun Baru Imlek (often shortened to Imlek), as Lunar New Year is known here, it's a great time to pay a visit to Jakarta's oldest Chinese temple, Jin De Yuan, where you can ask Kwan Im, the goddess of mercy, for blessings for the coming year.

Otherwise, join a feast in a local restaurant or hotel; Indonesia also loves the Yee Sang 'prosperity toss' - shout your wishes while the raw fish salad is being tossed with chopsticks - the higher the toss, the more prosperity! If you haven't had your fill, the Cap Go Meh festival winds it all up on the 15th day, again in the Glodok area.

The country's longest and most important holiday runs for 16 days of families feasting and socialising. Tables are laden with fish for abundance, chicken (representing family), lucky radish cakes, dumplings, fruit and hotpot for the family to gather around, sharing its warmth and energy. Try the tang yuan dessert of mochi-style rice balls served in sweet syrup.

The public celebrations are centred around the Taipei 101 skyscraper and in its night markets, and temples are filled with incense and prayers to the gods. The 15th day is its most interesting for travellers, as lantern festivals light up the entire country. The two-day Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival is Taiwan's most famous; write your wishes on a paper lantern and release it into the sky at this festival in New Taipei City.

If you've ever wanted to wear Korea's brightly coloured traditional clothing, hanbok, now's your chance. During Seollal, or Korean New Year, the streets are awash with people in their bright, traditional clothes, celebrating Korean culture as they return to their family homes and undertake rituals to honour their ancestors.

You'll most likely be offered the traditional good-luck foods of tteokguk (rice cake soup) and delicious galbi-jjim (braised short ribs), with lots of bowing (sebae) to elders to show respect. If you're in Seoul, catch a traditional performance or craft making at the Korean Folk Village and Gyeongbokgung Palace.

While many shops and restaurants close, bringing a calm to the otherwise busy cities, the major tourist sites remain open for the three-day holiday - the perfect backdrop for your hanbok photo.

In Vietnam, Lunar New Year celebrations are called Tết, which is short for Tet Nguyen Dan, or 'feast of the first day.' As in other countries, city dwellers return to their family roots in the countryside to look to the past, remembering their ancestors, while also looking forward to fresh beginnings.

If you're in Hanoi during Tet, expect fireworks over Hoan Kiem Lake, busy temples, banh chung (sticky rice cakes) as well as lion dances to lure luck and drive off evil. What's not on the table: duck, prawns or squid, which is ruled out because of its bad-luck black ink.

A major public holiday across the country, all banks, government offices, and even some tourist sites shut down for at least a week. Start practising your best Vietnamese to wish your friends "Chúc mừng năm mới!" ("Happy New Year!").

When is Lunar New Year in 2026?

The 2026 Lunar New Year falls on Tuesday 17 February, 2026, and runs until 23 February, 2026.

What is the animal for Lunar New Year in 2026?

It is the Year of the Horse in 2026, specifically the Fire Horse. The horse is associated with freedom, adventure and passion, and the Fire element adds an intensity and fiery energy to the personality. During 2026, the Horse is considered the luckiest zodiac sign to be born under.

What do the red envelopes mean during Lunar New Year?

Red envelopes, known as hongbao (in Mandarin) or lai see (in Cantonese) contain a gift of money, for prosperity and good luck in the coming year.

Gifted on New Year's Eve by older relatives to unmarried young adults and children, and from managers to employees, the amount should be an even number, preferably starting with the lucky number 8.

Where are the best places to travel during Lunar New Year?

Traditionally, major Asian cities including Hong Kong and Singapore light up with extravagant Lunar New Year celebrations, while the 'Ice City' of Harbin in north-eastern China is a favourite for seeing in the new year with plenty of snow.

In Vietnam, colourful Tet celebrations and Korea's time-honoured Seollal festivals are interesting to explore during the holiday period, although some cities are quieter as people return to their families' homes to celebrate.

You'll find celebrations across Southeast Asia including the Philippines and Malaysia, while outside Asia, Sydney is renowned for its huge Lunar New Year festival.

Where is the best place to stay during Lunar New Year?

The holiday period around Lunar New Year is a peak travel season throughout Asia, so book early to catch the hotels central to all the Lunar New Year's celebrations.

Search ALL.com or the ALL Accor app where you'll find a range of hotels for Lunar New Year - from budget to luxury - to suit your style, price point and location needs, whether you're travelling solo, with friends, family or in a group.