The Chinese Lunar New Year begins Feb 10, 2024, and starts the Spring Festival season that ends fifteen days later on the evening of the Lantern Festival. 2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon. The Chinese New Year also entails specific rituals. Such as giving red envelopes holding money to children, setting off firecrackers to scare off Nian, hanging upside down Fu posters for good fortune, and dragon and lion dances. Every year, sometime between late January and early February, an estimated 2 billion people across the globe, many of them in East and Southeast Asia, celebrate the Lunar New Year.
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Year of the Dragon with the Smithsonian Museum virtual and in-person events
Visit the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s online Lunar New Year Family Zone
