Year of the Dragon: The world’s stunning Lunar New Year celebrations, in pictures

Year of the Dragon: The world’s stunning Lunar New Year celebrations, in pictures

People gather in ceremonies all around the world to celebrate the Lunar New Year

Published: February 12, 2024 at 11:21 am

The Lunar New Year has been celebrated around the world, where lunar phases (and not calendars) indicate the start of 2024. This year, the Lunar New Year fell on 10 February.

Chinese New Year is based on a lunisolar calendar, where the year starts when the second new Moon of the year (following the Winter Solstice) indicates the start of a new year. It is considered to be one of the most important days in Chinese culture, where families join together to celebrate and eat together.

This year is the year of the dragon, the fifth of a 12-year cycle of animals in the Chinese calendar. As people born in the year of the dragon are thought to have more power, luck and success than other animals, birth dates in China tend to increase during this lunar year.

But the Lunar New Year isn't just celebrated in China. Here's how people from around the world marked the event.

Wuhan, China

Children look at glowing dragon puppet
Kids touch a traditional dragon head to pray for blessings, after a performance at night during the second day of the Spring Festival on 11 February 2024 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Photo by Getty Images

Seoul, South Korea

Performers in white hats playing game
South Korean performers wearing traditional clothes participate in a traditional game to wish good luck during the Lunar New Year holiday, at the Gyeongbokgung Royal Palace on 11 February 2024 in Seoul, South Korea. Korean people travel from large cities to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year holidays to pay respect to the spirits of their ancestors. Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

London, UK

Smiling woman wearing traditional hat
A performer in costume entertains spectators during the Chinese New Year 2024 Year of the Dragon Parade in London, United Kingdom. Photo by Loredana Sangiuliano/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

Hong Kong

People taking selfie with fireworks behind
People enjoy fireworks in Golden Bauhinia Square, Hong Kong, on the second day of the Chinese Lunar New Year on 11 February 2024. Hong Kong celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year with a huge fireworks show over the Victoria Harbour. Photo by Hou Yu/China News Service/VCG/Getty Images

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Yen Bai, Vietnam

Woman holding umbrella with man holding her leg
A couple wearing traditional outfits dances to celebrate Vietnamese Lunar New Year or Tet, in northern Vietnam's Yen Bai province on 12 February 2024. Photo by Nhac Nguyen/ AFP/Getty Images

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Bangkok, Thailand

Older gentleman holding joss sticks and praying
Thai and Chinese people pray with joss sticks for good fortune at a Chinese temple during celebrations for the Lunar New Year in Bangkok, Thailand, on 10 February 2024. Photo by Anusak Laowilas/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Madrid, Spain

Woman dressed in traditional Chinese clothes
A woman dressed in a traditional costume during the celebration of the Chinese New Year parade in the Usera neighbourhood of Madrid, Spain. The Chinese community, together with Spanish citizens, celebrated the beginning of the Year of the Dragon with a traditional parade. Photo by Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket/Getty Images

Singapore

Dragon-shaped lights in sky at night
People watch a pair of dragons ascending into the sky, formed by 1,500 drones, on 11 February 2024 at Marina Bay Sands waterfront in Singapore. The show is called 'The Legend Of The Dragon Gate' and forms part of the celebration of the Lunar New Year. Photo by Suhaimi Abdullah/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Gauteng, South Africa

Young boys peer around a banner
Children in traditional costumes take part celebration of Chinese New Year and the arrival of the Year of the Dragon at the Nan Hua Buddhist Temple in Bronkhorstspruit, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa on 11 February 2024. Photo by Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu/Getty Images

Beijing, China

Woman puts a golden egg in the mouth of a dragon puppet
People try to touch a dragon during a performance at a temple fair on the second day of the Lunar New Year of the Dragon in Beijing, China on 11 February 2024. Photo by Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images

Qingdao, China

Whale banners hang high above people
An elevated view of tourists enjoying colourful lanterns at a Golden Beach Beer City lantern fair on 11 February 2024, Qingdao, Shandong Province of China. Photo by Zhang Jingang/VCG/Getty Images

Toronto, Canada

Woman in red dress dancing and smiling
A performer dances during a Lunar New Year celebration at Chinatown Centre in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on 11 February 2024. Photo by Mike Campbell/NurPhoto/Getty Images

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