Traditional Chinese festivals are an essential part of harvests or prayer offerings. The 3 most important Chinese festivals are Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid Autumn Festival.
All traditional festivals are scheduled according to the Chinese calendar(Nongli). Qing Ming and Winter Solstice are traditional festivals as well as solar terms.
Traditional Chinese Festivals 2026
| Gregorian Date 2026 |
English Name | Chinese Name | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 26, 2026 | Laba Festival | 臘八節 | This is the day the Buddha attained enlightenment. People usually eat Laba congee, which is made of mixed grains and fruits. |
| Feb 16, 2026 | Chinese New Year Eve | 除夕 大年夜 |
Stay up late or all night on New Year's Eve. |
| Feb 17, 2026 | Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) |
農曆新年 春節 大年初一 |
fireworks after midnight, visit family members. |
| Mar 3, 2026 | Lantern Festival | 元宵節 | Lantern parade and lion dance celebrating the first full moon. Eating yuanxiao or tangyuan. This day is also the last day of new year celebration. |
| Mar 20, 2026 | Zhonghe Festival (Blue Dragon Festival) |
龍抬頭 中和節 青龍節 |
Eat Chinese pancakes (Chun bing, 春餅) and noodles, clean the house. Also known as Dragon Raising its Head |
| Apr 5, 2026 | Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, Clear and Bright Festival) |
清明節 | Visit, clean, and make offerings at ancestral gravesites, spring outing |
| Apr 19, 2026 | Shangsi Festival | 上巳節 | Traditional Chinese Women's Day, also known as 婦女節(fùnǚjié) |
| Jun 19, 2026 | Duanwu Festival (Dragon Boat Festival) |
端午節 | Dragon boat race, eat dumplings wrapped in lotus leaves Zongzi. This festival commemorates the ancient poet Qu Yuan; drink yellow rice wine, related to the White Snake Lady legend |
| Aug 19, 2026 | Qixi Festival (The Night of Sevens, Magpie Festival) |
七夕 | According to legend, the goddess "Zhi Nü" (the star Vega) fell in love with the farmer boy "Niu Lang" (the star Altair), but was disapproved by her mother goddess. As punishment, they were separated by the Milky Way and could only meet once a year on this night. |
| Aug 27, 2026 | Ghost Festival | 中元節 鬼節 |
Burn fake paper money and make offerings to ancestors and the dead to comfort them in the afterlife and keep them from troubling the living. |
| Sep 25, 2026 | Mid-Autumn Festival (Moon Festival) |
中秋節 | Eat mooncake, family union meal, appreciate the glorious full moon. |
| Oct 18, 2026 | Double Ninth Festival (Chongyang Festival) |
重陽節 | Autumn outing and mountain climbing, some Chinese also visit the graves of their ancestors to pay their respects. |
| Dec 22, 2026 | Dongzhi Festival (Winter Solstice Festival) |
冬至 | Have Tangyuan and Jiuniang and perform ancestor worship, Feast day, family gatherings, also named "Chinese Thanksgiving" |