The Lunar New Years is a Chinese celebration that starts during the new moon near the 17th of February. This celebration lasts for 15 days and is a time for families everywhere to gather and enjoy Chinese culture.
Because the color, red, is a symbol for the Lunar New Year, people wear red dresses, decorate their homes with red decorations and light fireworks that are red. People also clean their homes thoroughly to clean all the bad luck out of their homes.
Courtney Miller, a junior at Tracy High School, explains how Lunar New Years is related to family.
“It’s all about the family,” says Miller. “I visit my grandma during this time, and we spend precious time together,” She further explains “Visiting family is a part of the celebration.”
The Chinese Lunar Calendar operates on a system called the 12-year zodiac cycle. Where each year is represented by one of the 12 zodiac signs. The zodiac sign that is assigned to that year is a prediction of how the year will be. 2026 is the year of the horse, which means that 2026 will be a year that represents motion, liveliness, freedom, and enthusiasm.
Juan Xuan, a freshman at Tracy High School, explains more about the Lunar New Years history and his favorite parts of it.
“People celebrate with dragons because in the mythology a dragon would attack villages and stopping that dragon causes this celebration,” Explained Xuan. “It was a busy week; we had to prepare so much food and decorate that I never had any free time.”
On the final day of the celebration, a special event called the Lantern Festival is celebrated. This festival marks the end of the Lunar New Year and the first full moon of the year.
Gabriel Flores, a Freshman at Tracy High School explains more about The Lantern Festival.
“This is my favorite part of the Lunar New Years. I decorated my house with a lot of red lanterns,” explained Flores. “Each lantern would have easy riddles on them, and we were supposed to solve them to get candy.”
The Lantern Festival marks the end of the New Year celebration as people perform dragon dances, parades and light fireworks.
