When is Spring Festival in 2015?

The date of Spring Festival in 2015 is on Thursday, February 19th. 

What is Spring Festival?

The Chinese Spring Festival, also referred to as the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year, marks the first day of the Chinese calendar year. The holiday itself is more than 4,000 years old and is the most grand and extensive celebration for the Chinese culture. In 2013, Spring Festival lands on February 10th and kicks off the Year of the Snake according to Chinese zodiac. 

The Spring Festival 2015 holiday was created during the 17th-11th century B.C. during the Shang Dynasty. The holiday as a whole celebrates the start of a new year by engaging in exciting activities and traditions with family and friends. Common Spring Festival practices are the handing out of red envelopes (from married couples or elders to young singles) which typically contain money, exchanging gifts between friends and family members, parades usually involving extravagent dragon costumes, lighting firecrackers as a way to scare away evil spirits, and wearing brand new, brightly colored clothing to mark a new year and a fresh beginning.

Each year, the Chinese Spring Festival falls on the first day of the Chinese lunar celandar which is why the Spring Festival occurs on different days each year. The celebration lasts for for almost the entire first half of the month. In 2013, the entire Spring Festival occurs from February 9th (New Year's Eve) until the 15th of February. During this period of celebration, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day mark the peak of the festival.