Lunar New Year NYC 2026 is the Year of the Horse

Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year is the East Asian spring festival. It’s earlier than European spring festivals, but around this time is when we see the first hints of spring. In the Caribbean, we notice the courting and nesting behavior of the Caribbean blackbird (grackle or Mozambique). It’s when the birds start getting busy. Their courting displays are fun to watch.

Though often called Chinese New Year, it is not only Chinese. Lunar New Year is celebrated in cultures across East and Southeast Asia. Every country has its own traditions, but all are bear the ancient influence of a large Chinese Diaspora. China calls it the Spring Festival. Vietnam calls it Tet. Korea calls it Seollal. Indigenous Peoples of the Americas originated in Northern Asia, and some celebrate Lunar New Year too.

We tend to focus on the full moon, but metaphysically, things start on the new moon. So Lunar New Year starts on the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends fifteen days later on the full moon. The first new moon can fall anywhere from late January to mid-February.

The celebration consists of family gatherings around traditional food, community carnivals, and parades. Fireworks are lit to scare away bad spirits to make a prosperous new year. Like other cultural traditions, we clean our homes and may add furniture and decorations to the house.

At this time of year, we eat special dumplings and rice cakes.

In life, you receive what you give. Chinese culture is very symbolic, so we enjoy foods and gifts that represent wealth. Oranges, kumquats, and the like are traditional. Businesses put small orange trees outside their doors and decorate them with money for the lion or dragon dancers to come through to pick. It’s an old-fashioned shake down. If you don’t put out enough money, you may have problems with the youth organizations later in the year. Families give children money in red envelopes. Of course, kids love the tradition. You can find the little red envelopes in all of New York City’s Chinatowns.

Most traditional cultures practice ancestral veneration, and we put offerings to our ancestors on home altars. Every Asian restaurant in New York City has one of these altars.

The dragon is one of the great mythical creatures of East Asian culture. But dragons are afraid of fire and loud noises, so we decorate with lots of red and light firecrackers to scare away the bad ones.

Every Lunar New Year is represented by an animal from the zodiac. The Chinese zodiac has twelve animals: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. The Vietnamese zodiac replaces the rabbit with a cat, and the ox with a buffalo.

By tradition, people take on the characteristics of the animal of the year in which they were born. Some countries will have spikes in the number of births in various years as parents plan for good fortune.

There are also five

Editor Kíko Kí: I happen to be part Chinese descent (via Thailand) and was raised as a child in Old Los Angeles Chinatown. My zodiac is the rat and I actually do have its traditional characteristics. The rat is able to adapt to most any situation. I have lived all over the world in cultures and languages that are not native to me, since I was seven years old. The rat is shy, but can be aggressive. I observe first to see what’s going on, but as a New Yorker can be assertive in pursuit of my goals. In my case, the traditions hold true.

Year of the Snake

Some cultures fear snakes, others consider them to be good signs, like the snakes on the Caduceus, the symbol for doctors. This tradition respects snakes.

The Year of the Snake is a time of change because snakes shed their skins to grow. In the same way that a snake grows by shedding its old skin, the Year of the Snake is a time to let go of old ways and renew yourself with new traditions. Opportunities will come. You just have to be ready and able to take advantage of them.

That’s an interesting perspective for 2025 because many big changes are happening in 2025, including climate change, war, and political shifts.

Snakes are born in the years 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, and 2025. They are considered to be intelligent and graceful. People born in 2025 are Wood Snakes who are especially charming and creative.

Year of the Dragon

In Chinese tradition, 2024 is the Year of the Dragon.

The dragon represents good luck, justice, prosperity, and strength. People born this year have leadership qualities of charisma, intelligence, and confidence. They are gifted, naturally lucky, and often powerful.

As in Caribbean culture, metaphysical characters have many different faces or characters. This Year of the Dragon is a wood dragon. People born this year are introverted, but make good leaders because they are dedicated to their work.

Southeast and East Asian Buddhist cultures replace the dragon with the naga, a half-human, half-serpent creature. Some Nepalese replace it with an eagle. OId Turks celebrate a fish or crocodile. Old Persians celebrate a sea serpent or whale.