Lunar New Year Festivities
What is Lunar New Year and why do we celebrate it in Australia?
Lunar New Year, otherwise known as Chinese New Year or spring festival, marks the beginning of a lunar calendar year – based on the first new moon and ending on the first full moon of the lunar calendar.
This tradition has a long history of up to 4,000 years and is celebrated in many countries including China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Mongolia.
While this tradition didn’t originate in Australia, because of the history of immigration from Asian countries, the event has become a quintessential part of Asian-Australian culture and the Lunar New Year celebrations in Sydney are commonly referred to as the biggest celebration of its kind outside of Asian countries.
The 2023 Lunar New Year festival will take place from 21 January – 5 February and will celebrate the Year of the Rabbit.
Lunar New Year Traditions and Ways to Celebrate
Even if you haven’t celebrated Lunar New Year festivities before, this event is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about Chinese, south-eastern and eastern Asian cultures, customs and traditions.
There are a number of different ways to celebrate Lunar New Year, here are a few we’ve slightly adapted for the Australian context.
Spring Cleaning
There’s a Chinese New Year custom that involves thoroughly cleaning the house (or a ‘spring clean’) about 10 days before the beginning of the new lunar year, to remove the chen (old) – any bad luck from the previous year. This custom is often referred to as ‘sweeping of the grounds’.
Give your home the spring clean it deserves with our offer on Tirtyl cleaning products.
Food and drinks
Eating and drinking with friends and family is certainly an integral aspect of Chinese New Year. Most meals in Australia will often include at least one of the following:
- Nian Gao (New Year’s Cake)
- Fish
- Dumplings
- Tang yuan, or yuan xiao (sticky rice balls).
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are usually reserved for family celebrations and ceremonies honouring ancestors.
Check out our range of offers on food and drinks to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Red Decorations and Flowers
In Chinese culture, red is the colour of good luck and happiness. In Australia, you’ll start to notice apartments, houses and businesses lined with red scrolls, red paper lanterns and Chinese New Year greetings ahead of the festivities.
Flowers also play an important part of the New Year decorations with workplaces and households becoming filled with fresh flowering plants, bamboo and flower bouquets that represent a wish for good fortune and abundance.
Bring your home good fortune with flowers from Floraly.
Fireworks
Lunar New Year always features incredible firework displays, traditionally referred to as shou sui and used to drive away evil spirits.
Beat the crowds and watch the fireworks in style from an IHG hotel or resort.
Shopping
To represent a fresh start for the New Year, the Chinese believe everything should be renewed which means shopping has become a major part of these celebrations. New clothes are commonly purchased and worn on New Year’s Day.
Check out our range of offers on clothing and apparel and start the Lunar New Year fresh.
Dances
Throughout the festival, there are a lot of lion and dragon dances that culminate in the Lantern festival, which is celebrated on the last day of the Near Year’s celebrations.
Red Envelopes and gifts
On New Year’s Day, family members usually give each other (mainly children) red envelopes (lai see) containing some money as a symbol of good luck. However, in the modern Australian context, it’s not uncommon for other gifts to be given as well.
Check out our range of offers on perfect gifts for Chinese New Year here.
No matter how you plan to celebrate Lunar New Year, we have a range of best-in-market offers for our members to help you save. Check out our range of Lunar New Year discounts here.
Happy Lunar New Year from the Blue Light Card Australia team.