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A group of people in clothing under a canopy of lanterns
This year, Saturday, February 10, 2024 marks the beginning of Chinese New Year. This important cultural event that commemorates the new year and good fortune among many Eastern and Southeastern Asian cultures, and also celebrates the optimism of the coming year while honoring the past. Known as Lunar New Year, this annual 16-day celebration spans from the first new moon of the year through the following full moon, concluding with a Spring Festival.
During this exuberant event, family members get together to feast, light lanterns and enjoy an evening parade complete with midnight fireworks, bright lights and a long, colorful dancing lion (a symbol of good fortune).
2024 is the “year of the dragon“, so those born under this sign are predicted to be passionate about their goals and have the self-reliance, smarts and charm to win over people, succeed at business dealings and in general enjoy life.
May your year of the Dragon be full of happiness and health!
More Lunar New Year Facts & Traditions:
- The holiday began as a time for feasting to honor deities and ancestors. Rice balls are a traditional Lunar New Year food because they represent togetherness.
- Days leading up to the holiday, it’s customary to “spring clean” your house to sweep away any lingering bad luck.
- To celebrate, buying new clothes (either for yourself or to give as gifts) symbolizes a fresh start and is believed to protect you from evil spirits.
- Red is a favorable color in Chinese culture (black and white are thought to be unlucky and negative).
- Elders give children red envelopes containing money—the envelopes can contain any amount, as long as the sum can’t be divided by and doesn’t include the number four (the word for the number four in Chinese sounds like the word for death).
- The loud drums, dancing and fireworks at the Spring Festival are believed to drive away the bad spirits.
- “Guo Nian Hao”, and “Gung Hay Fat Choy”, are traditional greetings in Mandarin and Cantonese respectively that mean “Happy New Year!”
Learn More
We encourage you to read more and continue to educate yourself by clicking the links below.
- https://chinesenewyear.net/
- https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/chinese-new-year
- And for a more in depth study on the Year of the Dragon, please check out this article written by our good friend Bernadette King (aka Lucky Mee)