This year & the next celebration
When is Lantern Festival?
193 days ago
Lantern Festival 2026
3 March 2026Open this calendar month →161 days away
Lantern Festival 2027
20 February 2027Open this calendar month →Meaning & living traditions
What is Lantern Festival?
Lanterns as a shared word game
Illuminated displays bring people together after dark. Riddles attached to lanterns invite visitors to solve puzzles drawn from language, poetry and familiar sayings, making the display something to participate in.
Round dumplings and reunion
Glutinous-rice balls express togetherness through their round shape and festival associations. Sesame and bean paste are familiar sweet fillings, but savoury versions with meat, shrimp or vegetables also belong to regional traditions.
The first full-moon season
Lunar day fifteen places the festival near the first full moon of the year. The festival follows the numbered lunar date, however, while astronomical full moon has its own calculated instant.
From bamboo to light
A traditional lantern begins with a framework. Singapore’s lantern makers shape and tie bamboo, attach an oil-coated silk-paper covering, paint the surface and illuminate the finished object. Structural craft and decorative painting meet in a lantern that must hold its shape as well as look beautiful.
Shapes that carry a local identity
Lantern-making has regional forms. Foochow umbrella lanterns can collapse, while Teochew frames support themselves differently. Paintings may include animals, deities or a family surname; Singapore makers also use local motifs such as orchids. These choices make a lantern an expression of the maker’s community, not just a light for one evening.
Calendar rule
When Lantern Festival falls
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month, near the first full moon of the new year.
The exact rule is 15th day of the 1st 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.
Lantern Festival dates, 2023–2032
| Year | Gregorian date | Calendar position |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 5 February 2023 | Lunar 1/15 |
| 2024 | 24 February 2024 | Lunar 1/15 |
| 2025 | 12 February 2025 | Lunar 1/15 |
| 2026 | 3 March 2026 | Lunar 1/15 |
| 2027 | 20 February 2027 | Lunar 1/15 |
| 2028 | 9 February 2028 | Lunar 1/15 |
| 2029 | 27 February 2029 | Lunar 1/15 |
| 2030 | 17 February 2030 | Lunar 1/15 |
| 2031 | 6 February 2031 | Lunar 1/15 |
| 2032 | 25 February 2032 | Lunar 1/15 |
Observance
How it is observed
In Shanghai and many other Chinese communities, people may view lantern displays, solve lantern riddles and eat yuanxiao or tangyuan, with recipes and events varying by place.
Common questions
Understanding Lantern Festival
Are Lantern Festival dumplings always sweet?
No. Both sweet and savoury versions exist, and regional preparations include boiling, steaming and frying. A particular family’s recipe is one version of a wider tradition.
Are festival lanterns always round?
No. Lantern fairs also feature flower, bird and fish forms, alongside other decorative shapes.
Does a lantern display always mean Lantern Festival?
No. Lanterns also appear at Mid-Autumn, weddings and temple occasions. The lunar month distinguishes the two major lantern-lit festivals.
The calendar around the next occurrence
Lantern Festival in 2027
Saturday, 20 February 2027 is lunar month 1, day 15, in lunar year 2027. The festival falls in the Yin Fire Goat year.
The festival’s lunar year
Yin Fire Goat
354 days across 12 lunar months, with no leap month.
Explore this lunar year →Inside lunar month 1
30 days in this month
From 6 February 2027 to 7 March 2027. The festival is on day 15.
Rain Water
The solar term begins on 19 February 2027.
Convert the festival date →
Moon around the celebration
Waxing gibbous
The festival keeps lunar day fifteen. The nearest full moon falls on 21 February 2027 at 07:24 · UTC+8.
Moon phases for the festival month →Before and after this festival
6 February 2027
Chinese New YearLunar date & day reading →20 February 2027
Lantern FestivalLunar date & day reading →5 April 2027
Qingming FestivalLunar date & day reading →
The next celebration · 20 February 2027 · UTC+8
The complete Lantern Festival day reading
The festival sets the occasion; its day pillar, activities, directions and hours change each year. This reading is for 20 February 2027.
Daily almanac · 2027-02-20
Lantern Festival: activities & day animal
庚午 Yang Metal Horse
The stem gives Metal; 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
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 Metal Horse · 庚午— 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
- Yang Water Tiger · 壬寅— the month’s position in the 60-part stem–branch cycle.
- Year pillar 年柱
- Yin Fire Goat · 丁未— Fire generates Earth; the year’s position in the 60-year cycle.
- Day Na Yin 纳音
- Roadside Earth · 路旁土— a fixed named element assigned to this pillar; its element is Earth.
- Day animal 生肖
- Horse · 马— the animal of the earthly branch in this date’s pillar.
- Opposes 冲
- Yang Wood Rat · 甲子— a Six Clash (六冲), the branch directly opposite this date’s branch in the 12-branch cycle.
- Lunar mansion 宿
- Stomach · 胃— this date’s position in the repeating 28-mansion cycle.West palace (西) · Boar creature (彘) · traditionally favourable (吉)
- Day officer 建除
- Settle · 定— determined by this date’s earthly branch relative to its solar-term month branch.
- Auspicious directions 吉方
- Joy 喜神: Northwest (西北)
- Blessing 福神: Southwest (西南)
- Wealth 财神: East (正东)
- Peng Zu lines 彭祖百忌
- The verse cautions against setting warp and weft, saying the loom may stand empty.庚不经络织机虚张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 Lantern 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
February 2027 moon phases
New moon
Lunar 1/1
First quarter
Lunar 1/9
Full moon
Lunar 1/16
Last quarter
Lunar 1/23
Calculated phase moments use fixed UTC+8. A lunar day number and a Moon phase describe different things. How they fit together →
Plan around Lantern Festival
See the festival in its month or compare the surrounding days with your own birth-year animal.