Chinese New Year Festival

MIMS 2025 Chinese New Year Festival - Year of the Snake
Saturday, February 8, 2025

Purchase your tickets, t-shirts and more at the CNY Festival Store!

Chinese New Year consists of 15 days of celebrations. The initial day of festivities falls on the day of the first new moon between January 29 and February 12.

One folk story is about a monster named Nian (translates to “year”) who attacks people at the start of the year. Nian is afraid of the color red, bright lights and loud noises. These three elements are plentiful in celebrations to chase the monster away. Lion dances scare off evil spirits while dragon dances bring good luck.

The biggest focus for Chinese New Year is family reunions and honoring your ancestors. People travel far and wide to spend time with their families. Celebrations consist of food items filled with symbolism to bring in the luckiest, most prosperous new year. Fish for example means extra, in hopes of extra wealth. Chicken and oranges symbolize good luck, because the Chinese pronunciation is similar.

Preparations are made at the end of the year to make room for more fortune for the new year. For example, families clean their houses to sweep out the bad luck. Also, at the end of the year, people wash and cut their hair to avoid washing away your wealth in the new year.

Other common customs include red envelopes filled with money to children, firecrackers, a big meal with family, and paying respects to relatives who have passed away.

The last day of Chinese New Year is the Lantern Festival. On this day, people hang up glowing lanterns and eat sweet rice dumplings called tangyuan.

There are 12 zodiac animals, for each year in the zodiac calendar. The animals have individual characteristics. In 2025, we celebrate the year of the snake.