- Categories:
- Cultural
- Tags:
- Cultural HolidaysEthnicFestivities
- Where:
- Mauritius
- Date change rule:
- First new moon between January 21 and February 20
- Holiday emoji:
- 🧧
The Chinese Spring Festival, also known as Lunar New Year, ushers in a new year on February 17, 2026. This vibrant celebration marks the start of the Chinese lunar calendar, bringing families together for feasting, parades, and good fortune. Join the festivities, share a meal, and embrace the spirit of renewal!
Want to sponsor Chinese Spring Festival? Learn how
Expected Chinese Spring Festival Deals
As Chinese Spring Festival approaches, expect a wealth of promotions from Asian grocery stores and online retailers specializing in traditional foods and decor. Major restaurant chains like P.F. Chang’s and Panda Express often roll out special Lunar New Year menus and limited-time offers. Look for deals on ingredients from brands like Lee Kum Kee and Kikkoman to prepare festive meals at home. Retailers such as Costco and Walmart will stock themed decorations, red envelopes, and gift sets. We will update this page with confirmed live deals as February 2027 approaches.
Platform Guide for Chinese Spring Festival
Tag @nationaltoday_ and use #ChineseSpringFestival. Share vibrant photos of your festive decorations, family gatherings, and traditional dishes.
TikTok
Tag @www.nationaltoday.com and use #LunarNewYear. Film short videos showcasing your Spring Festival preparations, lion dance performances, or red envelope traditions.
Mention National Today (facebook.com/nationaltoday) and use #ChineseNewYear. Share community events, family traditions, and connect with others celebrating.
Chinese Spring Festival Hero
Nian, the Mythical Beast
History of Chinese Spring Festival
The Chinese Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, is usually celebrated by the Chinese community in Mauritius following the traditional Chinese lunar calendar. The exact date of the festival on the Gregorian calendar widely used today is typically around January or February.
It is believed that the modern Chinese Spring Festival is a continuation of an ancient Chinese autumn tradition. Before the new year celebration started, the ancient Chinese would gather to celebrate the end of the autumn harvest. During this period, people would clean millet-stack sites, toast guests with traditional Chinese red wine or mijiu, slaughter lambs, and go to their masters’ homes to toast to them and cheer the prospect of living a long life together.
On the eve of modern Chinese New Year celebrations, as in old times, families would come together for a special reunion dinner with dishes on the menu having idiomatic and specific meanings.
When the new year finally came, people would typically light fireworks at the entrance of their homes to ward off bad luck. In Mauritius, despite the Mauritian Chinese community being relatively small, the Spring Festival is a national public holiday making it the only country outside Asia to celebrate Chinese New Year with a public holiday.
The main celebration of the new year takes place in the Chinatown area of Port Louis, with typically colorful parades of traditional New Year celebration costumes like the dancing dragon complete with energetic dance performances and fireworks.
Chinese Spring Festival timeline
“The Classic of Poetry,” a poem written during Western Zhou (1045 — 771 B.C.) by an anonymous farmer, is believed to be the earliest known attempt to describe the origin of the New Year.
The ruling Kuomintang party’s decree that the Chinese New Year should from then fall on January 1 of the Gregorian Calendar is met with widespread objection and is quickly reversed.
During the Cultural Revolution, the celebration of China’s annual holiday is effectively forbidden for 13 years until 1976.
C.C.T.V. starts broadcasting the New Year's Gala which is now watched by at least one billion people annually.
Chinese Spring Festival FAQs
When is Chinese Spring Festival?
In 2027, Chinese Spring Festival falls on Saturday, February 6, ushering in the Year of the Goat. The date offers a full weekend for grand celebrations and cultural events.
How many people celebrate Chinese Spring Festival?
Observed by approximately one-fifth of the world’s population, Chinese Spring Festival’s reach extends far beyond mainland China. Millions in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Korea, and other countries also partake in Lunar New Year festivities.
What are common traditions during Chinese Spring Festival?
Beyond the feast, traditions for the Spring Festival also involve paying respects to ancestors, visiting relatives, and participating in temple fairs. The festival concludes with the Lantern Festival, featuring vibrant lantern displays and sweet glutinous rice balls (tangyuan).
Why do the dates for Chinese Spring Festival change each year?
Unlike fixed-date holidays, the Chinese Spring Festival’s reliance on lunar cycles means its exact date shifts. This astronomical alignment ensures the celebration always coincides with the start of spring and the agricultural cycle in China.
Chinese Spring Festival Activities
Observe Spring Festival rituals
The Chinese Spring Festival celebration is characterized and preceded by the ancient rituals of lighting firecrackers at storefronts, and an extensive clean-up of the house to ward away any traces of bad luck. Engage in these traditional Chinese New Year's Eve customs to celebrate the holiday. Brighten your home with decorations — you can even paint parts of it in the color code of the festival, which symbolizes happiness — red.
Serve a Chinese meal
New Year meals include food with symbolic meaning, such as fish for abundance, dumplings for luck, spring rolls for wealth, and noodles for longevity. Search online for recipes and try something new like dumplings with tasty fillings, or rice cakes.
Celebrate on social media
Celebrating on social media, and showing support, is perhaps the best way to observe the Chinese Spring Festival if you can't travel to China. Watch C.C.T.V’s broadcast of the New Year's Gala event that is watched annually by billions of people of Chinese descent. Share your thoughts from the event on social media and be part of the global discussion during the holiday.
5 Facts You Didn’t Know About The Chinese Spring Festival
Celebrating Chinese New Year outside China
Mauritius is the only country outside Asia that celebrates the Chinese New Year with a public holiday despite the Chinese community accounting for only about 3% of the population.
Largest human migration in the world
The Spring Festival represents the biggest human migration, with over 400 million people returning to their rural homes from across the country in China alone.
Animals and the Chinese Zodiac
Each year the Chinese Spring Festival celebration is represented by one of the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac.
Celebrations can last a whole month
The Chinese Spring Festival lasts for about 23 days, ending on the 15th day of the first lunar month on the Chinese calendar.
Iconic landmarks
Iconic landmarks around the world like the Tokyo Tower and the London Eye will usually turn red to signify the start of the Chinese New Year celebration.
Why We Love Chinese Spring Festival
It continues an ancient tradition
The modern Chinese Spring Festival is a continuation of ancient Chinese autumn tradition. Before the new year celebration was established, ancient Chinese gathered and celebrated the end of the autumn harvest. During this period, people would clean millet-stack sites, toast guests with traditional Chinese red wine or mijiu, slaughter lambs, and go to their masters' homes to toast to them and cheer the prospect of living a long life together.
It keeps people of Chinese descent connected
According to the Chinese national population agency, there are over 50 million Chinese people outside of the territories of China. The Chinese diaspora represents some of the largest groups of foreign nationals of countries in Europe and North America. In Mauritius, that number is at least 30,000 people, and the Chinese Spring Festival serves as one of the ways to stay connected to Chinese tradition away from home.
It promotes unity
The Chinese Spring Festival has always promoted unity. The holiday is a time for families to gather around to enjoy a meal and stay hopeful for the new year. It is also the time of the year when the most gifts are shared.
Chinese Spring Festival dates
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | February 17 | Tuesday |
| 2027 | February 6 | Saturday |
| 2028 | January 26 | Wednesday |
| 2029 | February 13 | Tuesday |
| 2030 | February 3 | Sunday |
Social Media Tips for Chinese Spring Festival
Individuals
Creators
Brands