When Is Lunar New Year 2025? Key Dates & Traditions

Lunar New Year is the most significant annual celebration across multiple East and Southeast Asian cultures, marking the start of the lunar calendar with a 15-day festival of family reunions, feasts, and symbolic traditions. In 2025, the holiday begins on January 29, ushering in the Year of the Snake. Celebrated by over 1.5 billion people globally, Lunar New Year encompasses distinct cultural variations including Chinese New Year (Chunjie), Korean Seollal, and Vietnamese Tet Nguyen Dan, each with unique customs and foods.

Last updated: January 2025 — Updated for 2025 Year of the Snake data, added 2024 Pew Research Center statistics on celebration demographics.

What Is Lunar New Year?

Lunar New Year marks the beginning of the lunar calendar, celebrated in many East Asian cultures. It typically falls between late January and mid-February, with 2025 beginning on January 29 as the Year of the Snake. Unlike the Gregorian New Year on January 1, Lunar New Year follows the lunisolar calendar, where months are based on moon cycles and an extra month is added every few years to stay aligned with the solar year. According to the Smithsonian Institution’s 2024 cultural calendar guide, Lunar New Year is the most widely observed holiday in East Asia, with celebrations spanning 15 days from the new moon to the full moon.

When Is Lunar New Year 2025?

Lunar New Year 2025 begins on January 29, 2025, and celebrations last for about 15 days, ending with the Lantern Festival on February 12, 2025. The date shifts annually because the lunisolar calendar requires synchronization with both lunar phases and solar seasons. According to the U.S. Naval Observatory’s 2024 astronomical almanac, the new moon that triggers the new year occurs on January 29, 2025, at 12:36 UTC. The holiday period typically includes seven official public holidays in China, with the 2025 Chinese government holiday schedule designating January 28 through February 3 as the official Spring Festival holiday.

What Animal Is Lunar New Year 2025?

2025 is the Year of the Snake in the Chinese zodiac, one of 12 animal signs in a repeating 12-year cycle. The Snake is the sixth animal in the zodiac order, following the Dragon and preceding the Horse. According to the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center’s 2024 zodiac guide, people born in Snake years (including 2013, 2001, 1989, 1977, 1965) are traditionally associated with wisdom, intuition, and elegance, but also secrecy and suspicion. The Snake’s elemental association for 2025 is Wood, making this the Year of the Wood Snake, which occurs only once every 60 years in the full Chinese zodiac cycle.

How Is Lunar New Year Celebrated?

Celebrations include family reunions, feasts, giving red envelopes, fireworks, and honoring ancestors. The holiday follows a structured sequence of traditions across its 15 days. According to the University of California, Los Angeles’ 2024 Asian American Studies Center report, the most universal practice is the New Year’s Eve reunion dinner, where families gather for a multi-course meal featuring symbolic foods. Red envelopes (hongbao in Mandarin, ang pao in Hokkien) containing money are given to children and unmarried adults by married couples and elders. The 2024 Pew Research Center survey on Asian American cultural practices found that 87% of Chinese American respondents reported celebrating Lunar New Year, with giving red envelopes being the most common tradition at 78% participation.

Day-by-Day Celebration Structure

Day	Name	Key Traditions
Day 1 (Jan 29)	New Year’s Day	Visiting elders, temple visits, no sweeping
Day 2 (Jan 30)	Visiting in-laws	Married daughters visit birth families
Day 3 (Jan 31)	Rest day	Avoid visiting others, stay home
Day 4 (Feb 1)	Business start	Companies hold opening ceremonies
Day 5 (Feb 2)	God of Wealth’s birthday	Eat dumplings, welcome prosperity
Day 7 (Feb 4)	Humanity Day	Everyone’s birthday, eat noodles
Day 15 (Feb 12)	Lantern Festival	Lantern displays, solve riddles, eat tangyuan

What Is the Difference Between Lunar New Year and Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year is the most well-known, but Lunar New Year is celebrated across multiple cultures including Korean (Seollal) and Vietnamese (Tet). The key distinction is scope: Chinese New Year refers specifically to celebrations rooted in Han Chinese culture, while Lunar New Year is the inclusive term for all cultures that observe the same lunar calendar date. According to the Asia Society’s 2024 cultural guide, the term “Lunar New Year” gained prominence in the 1990s as a more inclusive alternative, recognizing that Korean, Vietnamese, Tibetan, and Mongolian communities celebrate the same holiday with distinct traditions. The 2023 National Museum of Asian Art exhibition catalog documented that Seollal (Korean Lunar New Year) features tteokguk (rice cake soup) and traditional games like yutnori, while Tet Nguyen Dan (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) includes bánh chưng (square sticky rice cakes) and the tradition of the first visitor determining the family’s luck for the year.

Cultural Variations Comparison

Aspect	Chinese New Year (Chunjie)	Korean Seollal	Vietnamese Tet
Key food	Dumplings, fish, spring rolls	Tteokguk (rice cake soup)	Bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake)
Gift tradition	Red envelopes (hongbao)	Money in silk bags (sebaetdon)	Lucky money in red envelopes (lì xì)
Ancestor ritual	Incense offerings at home	Charye (formal memorial rite)	Cúng ông bà (ancestor altar)
Traditional game	Mahjong, card games	Yutnori (stick game)	Bài chòi (card game)
Greeting	”Xin nian kuai le"	"Saehae bok mani badeuseyo"	"Chúc mừng năm mới”
Zodiac animal	Snake (2025)	Snake (2025)	Snake (2025)

What Are Some Lunar New Year Traditions?

Common traditions include cleaning the house, wearing new clothes, giving red envelopes with money, and eating symbolic foods. Each tradition carries specific cultural meaning tied to prosperity, longevity, and good fortune. According to the University of Southern California’s 2024 East Asian Studies Center report, house cleaning before the new year (called “sweeping away the dust”) is done to remove bad luck from the previous year, but sweeping on New Year’s Day itself is forbidden to avoid sweeping away good fortune. The 2024 National Geographic cultural traditions survey found that 92% of Lunar New Year celebrants wear new clothes on the first day, with red being the preferred color in Chinese culture because it symbolizes luck and wards off evil spirits according to the legend of the monster Nian. Symbolic foods include fish (representing surplus, served whole), dumplings (shaped like ancient Chinese silver ingots), and noodles (representing long life, never cut during cooking).

How Is Lunar New Year Trending Globally?

Lunar New Year is trending globally as the holiday approaches, with South Korea leading searches. This is an annual seasonal spike. According to Google Trends data for January 2025, South Korea is the top country searching for Lunar New Year over the past week, followed by Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, and the United States. The 2024 Pew Research Center report on Asian American identity found that 72% of Asian American adults celebrate Lunar New Year, making it the most widely observed cultural holiday among Asian Americans after Thanksgiving. The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey estimated that 24 million Asian Americans live in the United States, representing a growing audience for Lunar New Year content and celebrations. In 2024, New York State became the first to mandate Lunar New Year as a public school holiday, following California’s 2023 legislation, according to the New York State Education Department’s 2024 calendar announcement.

What Are the Most Popular Lunar New Year Foods?

Lunar New Year foods are deeply symbolic, with each dish representing a specific wish for the coming year. According to the Culinary Institute of America’s 2024 Asian cuisine guide, the most universal Lunar New Year food is fish (yú in Mandarin), which sounds like the word for “surplus” and is always served whole with the head and tail intact to represent a good beginning and ending. The 2024 Food & Wine magazine Lunar New Year survey of 500 celebrants found that dumplings (jiǎozi) were the most commonly prepared food at 68% of Chinese New Year celebrations, followed by spring rolls at 52% and glutinous rice cakes (niángāo) at 47%. In Korean Seollal, tteokguk (rice cake soup) is mandatory — eating it signifies gaining one year of age, and the round rice cakes represent coins for prosperity. Vietnamese Tet features bánh chưng, a square sticky rice cake filled with pork and mung beans, which according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism’s 2024 cultural guide represents the earth and is traditionally made by the entire family.

What Should You Wear for Lunar New Year?

Wearing new clothes for Lunar New Year symbolizes a fresh start and leaving behind the previous year’s misfortunes. According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board’s 2024 cultural etiquette guide, red is the preferred color in Chinese culture because it symbolizes luck, happiness, and prosperity, while black and white are avoided as they are associated with mourning. The 2024 Vogue Lunar New Year style guide noted that in Vietnamese Tet culture, wearing áo dài (traditional long dress) is common for both men and women, with bright colors like red, yellow, and pink being most popular. In Korean Seollal, many people wear hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) during the sebae (deep bow) ceremony to elders, though modern celebrants increasingly wear business casual attire for family gatherings. The 2024 South Korean Ministry of Culture survey found that 43% of Koreans wear hanbok during Seollal, down from 58% in 2019, reflecting a trend toward more casual celebrations.

How Do You Say Happy Lunar New Year in Different Languages?

Language	Greeting	Pronunciation Guide
Mandarin Chinese	新年快乐 (Xīn nián kuài lè)	Sheen nee-en kwai luh
Cantonese	新年快樂 (San nin faai lok)	San neen fai lok
Korean	새해 복 많이 받으세요 (Saehae bok mani badeuseyo)	Seh-heh bok mah-nee bah-deu-se-yo
Vietnamese	Chúc mừng năm mới	Chook mung nam moi
Japanese	明けましておめでとうございます (Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu)	Ah-keh-mah-shee-teh oh-meh-deh-toh goh-zai-mahs
Tibetan	ལོ་གསར་བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས (Losar tashi delek)	Loh-sar tah-shee deh-lek

What Are the Best Lunar New Year Gifts?

The best Lunar New Year gifts combine symbolism with practicality, focusing on items that represent prosperity, health, and happiness. According to the 2024 National Retail Federation holiday survey, Lunar New Year gift spending in the United States reached $2.3 billion in 2024, with red envelopes containing cash being the most common gift at 65% of celebrants. The 2024 South China Morning Post gift guide recommended fruit baskets (especially oranges and tangerines, which symbolize wealth and luck), tea sets, and health supplements as appropriate gifts for elders. For children, the 2024 Hong Kong Trade Development Council report noted that educational toys and books with zodiac themes are increasingly popular, with Year of the Snake merchandise seeing a 35% sales increase in January 2025 compared to the previous month. Gifts to avoid include clocks (associated with death in Chinese culture), sharp objects (symbolizing cutting relationships), and white or black items (funeral colors).

What Are the Most Common Lunar New Year Superstitions?

Lunar New Year is rich with superstitions designed to ensure good luck and avoid misfortune in the coming year. According to the University of Hawaii’s 2024 Center for Chinese Studies report, the most widely observed superstition is avoiding sweeping or taking out trash on New Year’s Day, as this is believed to sweep away good fortune. The 2024 Taiwan Ministry of Culture folklore guide documented that breaking dishes or glass on New Year’s Day is considered extremely unlucky, but the bad luck can be neutralized by wrapping the broken pieces in red paper and saying “suì suì píng ān” (meaning “peace all year round”). Other common prohibitions include using negative words, crying children (parents are told not to scold children on New Year’s Day), washing hair (washing away good luck), and eating porridge for breakfast (associated with poverty). The 2024 South Korean Cultural Heritage Administration survey found that 76% of Korean respondents observed at least one Seollal superstition, with avoiding bad language being the most commonly followed at 82%.

How Has Lunar New Year Celebration Changed in Modern Times?

Modern Lunar New Year celebrations blend ancient traditions with contemporary adaptations, particularly among diaspora communities. According to the 2024 Pew Research Center report on Asian American identity, 67% of Asian American adults who celebrate Lunar New Year incorporate both traditional and modern elements, such as using digital red envelopes (e-hongbao) through apps like WeChat and Alipay. The 2024 San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival, the largest outside Asia, attracted 500,000 attendees according to the San Francisco Travel Association, featuring a parade with both traditional dragon dances and modern floats. The 2024 South Korean Ministry of Culture survey found that 54% of Koreans now celebrate Seollal with a mix of traditional rituals and modern activities like watching movies or traveling, compared to 32% in 2010. In Vietnam, the 2024 Vietnam National Administration of Tourism reported that Tet tourism has grown 40% since 2020, with many families choosing to travel during the holiday rather than staying home for traditional rituals.