The Year of the Snake

Happy Lunar New Year!

In 2025 the Lunar New Year, also known as , the Spring Festival, Chinese New Year, and many other names, begins on January 29 and will continue for several weeks all over the globe. Canadians join with many millions of people in Asia, and millions more of Asian Heritage around the world, to celebrate the Year of the Snake.


The celebrations around this event include many different local practices and are known by many names around the world, including Tet (Vietnam); Seollal (Korea); Koshogatsu or “Little New Year” (Japan).  Multiday, and even multiweek festivals will take place around the world on the days and weeks of late January and early February. The Lantern Festival is an example of an associated event that takes place several weeks into the new year.

In North America it is often called Chinese New Year, although the Chinese themselves are more likely to refer to it as the Spring Festival. Moreover, the term “Lunar New Year” is more reflective of the multi-ethnic and multicultural nature of the celebrations. In Canada this is especially important, as many Canadians trace their roots to many different parts of the world, including China, but also to many other places in East Asia such as Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan.

Find out more:

LunarFest Vancouver

The Lunar New Year in Canada

Korean New Year

Chinese New Year

Tet

BBC Lunar New Year

Summer Solstice

Tomorrow is the first day of Summer. The Summer Solstice will take place in the Northern Hemisphere at 7:57 AM on June 21st (Pacific Daylight Time). The Summer Solstice is also called the estival solstice and occurs in the Northern Hemisphere when the North Pole is at its most extreme tilt towards the sun. The result is the longest day (and shortest night) of the year. The Solstice is also the first day of the season of Summer– although, confusingly, festivals known as Midsummer, take place around the same time, often on June 24.

By Bengt Nyman from Vaxholm, Sweden – DIMG_5456, CC BY 2.0,