This year & the next celebration
When is Laba Festival?
229 days ago
Laba Festival 2026
26 January 2026Open this calendar month →125 days away
Laba Festival 2027
15 January 2027Open this calendar month →Meaning & living traditions
What is Laba Festival?
A bowl with many recipes
Grains, beans and dried fruit feature in sweet Laba porridge, while savoury regional preparations can include tofu, vegetables or meat. There is no single recipe shared by every community.
Preparing for New Year
In northern China, garlic preserved in vinegar is another preparation associated with Laba. It becomes a familiar accompaniment to dumplings during the approaching New Year period.
The final lunar month
Laba belongs to lunar month twelve, which can straddle December and January. Occasionally two Laba dates fall in the same Gregorian year; the year table preserves both occurrences rather than dropping one.
A bowl shared beyond the temple
Laba also belongs to Chinese Buddhist observance: lunar 12/8 commemorates Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment. Temples mark it with offerings and porridge shared with the public. At Hangzhou’s Lingyin Temple, volunteers sort grains, beans and dried fruit before the kitchens prepare bowls for distribution. The work begins before the festival itself. A bowl can therefore be more than a family breakfast: it also expresses hospitality and gratitude through food prepared by many people and shared with the surrounding community.
Calendar rule
When Laba Festival falls
The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, in the run-up to the new year.
The exact rule is 8th day of the 12th lunar month. Its Gregorian date moves because lunar months last 29 or 30 days, while leap months keep the lunar year aligned with the seasons.
Laba Festival dates, 2023–2032
| Year | Gregorian date | Calendar position |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | No occurrence in this Gregorian year | — |
| 2024 | 18 January 2024 | Lunar 12/8 |
| 2025 | 7 January 2025 | Lunar 12/8 |
| 2026 | 26 January 2026 | Lunar 12/8 |
| 2027 | 15 January 2027 | Lunar 12/8 |
| 2028 | 4 January 2028 | Lunar 12/8 |
| 2029 | 22 January 2029 | Lunar 12/8 |
| 2030 | 11 January 2030 | Lunar 12/8 |
| 2031 | 1 January 2031 | Lunar 12/8 |
| 2032 | 20 January 2032 | Lunar 12/8 |
Observance
How it is observed
In many parts of China, Laba is marked with multigrain porridge, while ingredients and related foods such as pickled garlic differ by region.
Common questions
Understanding Laba Festival
Must Laba porridge be sweet?
No. Sweet and savoury versions coexist, and some Sichuan preparations include chilli. A family or regional recipe represents one tradition, not the only authentic formula.
Why do Buddhist temples give out Laba porridge?
The sharing accompanies the enlightenment commemoration and offerings, carrying the observance beyond the temple’s worship hall.
Is temple porridge prepared only on Laba day?
Not always. Lingyin Temple describes preparations and cooking across the first eight days of the twelfth lunar month.
The calendar around the next occurrence
Laba Festival in 2027
Friday, 15 January 2027 is lunar month 12, day 8, in lunar year 2026. The festival falls in the Yang Fire Horse year.
The festival’s lunar year
Yang Fire Horse
354 days across 12 lunar months, with no leap month.
Explore this lunar year →Inside lunar month 12
29 days in this month
From 8 January 2027 to 5 February 2027. The festival is on day 8.
Minor Cold
The solar term begins on 5 January 2027.
Convert the festival date →
Moon around the celebration
Waxing crescent
This is the Moon phase on the festival’s civil date.
Moon phases for the festival month →Before and after this festival
22 December 2026
Winter SolsticeLunar date & day reading →15 January 2027
Laba FestivalLunar date & day reading →5 February 2027
Lunar New Year's EveLunar date & day reading →
The next celebration · 15 January 2027 · UTC+8
The complete Laba Festival day reading
The festival sets the occasion; its day pillar, activities, directions and hours change each year. This reading is for 15 January 2027.
Daily almanac · 2027-01-15
Laba Festival: activities & day animal
甲午 Yang Wood Horse
The stem gives Wood; the branch gives Horse.
Read this stem against your Day Master →Huang Dao and Hei Dao name the day-god cycle. For a particular plan, read its Yi and Ji activities below.
宜 Traditionally suitable
- Hold a wedding嫁娶
- Make a formal betrothal proposal纳采
- Formalize a betrothal agreement订盟
- Move into a new home入宅
- Move residence移徙
- Set up a bed安床
- Ritual offerings祭祀
- Pray for blessings祈福
- Consecrate a sacred image开光
- Travel出行
- Ritual cleansing or removal解除
- Move a sacred altar or flame出火
- Dismantle a structure拆卸
- Begin construction earthworks动土
- Acquire livestock纳畜
- Thanksgiving rite after building谢土
- Burial安葬
- Begin burial excavation破土
忌 Traditionally avoid
Calendar terms explained
This day in the traditional cycles
Each result below names this date’s position and explains what the term means.
- Day pillar 日柱
- Yang Wood Horse · 甲午— this date’s position in the repeating 60-day stem–branch cycle.Hidden stems are stems conventionally contained in the day pillar’s earthly branch. Primary is the main layer; middle and residual are secondary layers.
- Yin Fire · Dīng 丁 (primary)
- Yin Earth · Jǐ 己 (middle)
- Month pillar 月柱
- Yin Metal Ox · 辛丑— the month’s position in the 60-part stem–branch cycle.
- Year pillar 年柱
- Yang Fire Horse · 丙午— Fire reinforces Fire; the year’s position in the 60-year cycle.
- Day Na Yin 纳音
- Sand Metal · 沙中金— a fixed named element assigned to this pillar; its element is Metal.
- Day animal 生肖
- Horse · 马— the animal of the earthly branch in this date’s pillar.
- Opposes 冲
- Yang Earth Rat · 戊子— a Six Clash (六冲), the branch directly opposite this date’s branch in the 12-branch cycle.
- Lunar mansion 宿
- Ox · 牛— this date’s position in the repeating 28-mansion cycle.North palace (北) · Ox creature (牛) · traditionally unfavourable (凶)
- Day officer 建除
- Hold · 执— determined by this date’s earthly branch relative to its solar-term month branch.
- Auspicious directions 吉方
- Joy 喜神: Northeast (东北)
- Blessing 福神: North (正北)
- Wealth 财神: Northeast (东北)
- Peng Zu lines 彭祖百忌
- The verse cautions against opening a storehouse, saying possessions may be lost.甲不开仓财物耗散The verse cautions against roofing a house, saying its owner may have to make changes.午不苫盖屋主更张Two traditional almanac caution lines selected by this date’s stem and branch.
All hours and their hour gods · UTC+8
Auspicious hours for Laba Festival
Read every interval and its traditional classification. A favorable hour is separate from suitability for a particular activity.
Golden Coffer
AuspiciousHeavenly Virtue
AuspiciousWhite Tiger
InauspiciousJade Hall
AuspiciousHeavenly Prison
InauspiciousDark Warrior
InauspiciousController of Destiny
AuspiciousGou Chen
InauspiciousAzure Dragon
AuspiciousBright Hall
AuspiciousHeavenly Punishment
InauspiciousVermilion Bird
InauspiciousHeavenly Punishment
Inauspicious
The Rat double-hour crosses midnight. Its 00:00–00:59 and 23:00–23:59 portions belong to different hourly cycles, so both are listed separately. How the hourly cycle works →
The Moon this month · UTC+8
January 2027 moon phases
New moon
Lunar 12/1
First quarter
Lunar 12/9
Full moon
Lunar 12/15
Last quarter
Lunar 12/22
Calculated phase moments use fixed UTC+8. A lunar day number and a Moon phase describe different things. How they fit together →
Plan around Laba Festival
See the festival in its month or compare the surrounding days with your own birth-year animal.