Lunar New Year is a holiday celebrated by communities across the globe that celebrates the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year on the lunar calendar. We invite you to join us in learning more about the Lunar New Year and finding ways to celebrate with your family!
Cultural Background
Lunar New Year is celebrated by billions of people around the world, including East and Central Asia, including Vietnam, Korea, China, Singapore and Malaysia. The celebration is observed according to the local lunisolar calendar, which means the dates are determined by the moon and sun. The Lunar New Year typically lands on the second new moon after the winter solstice in late January or early February. It is a 15-day celebration of the arrival of spring!
The origins of the Lunar New Year festival are thousands of years old and based on legends. The Chinese Zodiac features a 12-year cycle of animals and highlights one of the five key elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Together, these elements create a 60-year cycle. The 2025 Lunar New Year will be the “year of the wood snake” and takes place on January 29.
How is it celebrated?
Ten days prior to the start of the Lunar New Year, families participate in the tradition of “sweeping the grounds”. During this time, families thoroughly clean their homes to remove any bad luck that could be lingering inside. Windows are decorated with red paper cuttings and doors are adorned with couplets expressing promising wishes for the new year.
For Lunar New Year, New Year’s Eve and New Year's Day are traditionally reserved for family celebrations and religious ceremonies that honor their ancestors. On New Year's Day, young unmarried family members receive red envelopes with small amounts of money after they bless their married elders with well-wishes for the New Year. Celebrators typically wear traditional clothing of their culture. A large feast of symbolic dishes that represent good luck and fortune are also enjoyed. Other festivities include parties, firecrackers and lion and dragon dances. The final day of the holiday ends with the Lantern Festival, which involves children carrying colorful paper lanterns around the neighborhood to mark the end of the holiday.
Happy Lunar New Year from our Valley Children’s family to yours! We wish you an abundant flow of prosperity and wealth!
About the Author
Damnhien “Dani” Nguyen was born and raised in Huntington Beach, California. As a Vietnamese American, she grew up celebrating many traditional Vietnamese holidays in honor of her heritage. Her parents immigrated to the US in the early 90’s, and she grew up in a bilingual home next to Little Saigon, which is one of the larger Vietnamese refugee populations in the United States. Here Nguyen was able to enjoy all the wonderful food, cultures and traditions of her parents’ homeland.
Kevin Tran was born and raised in Valencia, California. As a Vietnamese-Chinese American growing up in a predominantly Caucasian community, it was sometimes hard for him to celebrate his heritage as many children his age were unfamiliar with the Lunar New Year festivities. Nevertheless, he celebrated every year in Little Saigon and Chinatown where many of his extended relatives lived with his parents and sister.