📅 holiday

The Third Day of Lunar New Year

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

— days to go

Lunar New Year is the most spectacular holiday of Hong Kong’s year and celebrates the start of the new year according to the Chinese calendar. It is also known as Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, and the date of this holiday changes each year but falls in January or February according the western calendar. In 2027, Lunar New Year falls on Saturday 6 February. The holiday will be on Wednesday 26 January in 2028. Lunar New Year in Hong Kong runs officially for three days, and even four if the holiday coincides with a Sunday. Unofficially, it is celebrated for up to two weeks. Chinese communities around the world, and particularly in Hong Kong, come alive with colour, fragrance, music and celebrations over the holiday. It is a time for massive festivities, temple rituals, fortune telling, family gatherings and the exchanging of gifts. In the evening on Victoria Harbour, the sky, water and city lights up with nearly half-an-hour of over twenty thousand fireworks that colour the land that invented them. The harbour front at Tsim Sha Tsui is vibrant with the International Chinese New Year Night Parade with Chinese and international performers exciting the atmosphere of Hong Kong. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, a member of the Hong Kong government attends the Che Kung Temple at Sha Tin where Hong Kong’s luck for the year is foretold in the form of ancient Chinese poetry. Every year around 100,000 worshippers come to Che Kung to beat the drum for good luck and to worship. Souvenir and shopping markets highlight every part of Hong Kong with flower markets everywhere that sell more than orchids and other flowers. Along with orange and hong bao trees, people buy kumquat bonsai trees in the hope these will bring prosperity over the rest of the year. For more good luck, there is a Wishing Tree at Lam Tsuen. Those wanting to make a wish tie a note to a piece of string that is tied to an orange then throw it high into the tree. The higher it holds in the tree, the better the chance that the wish will come true.

History

How It's Celebrated

Other Years

2025 Wed

29 Jan

2026 Tue

17 Feb

2027 Sat

6 Feb

2028 Wed

26 Jan

Countries

🇭🇰 HK 🇲🇴 MO

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🌍 observance Feb 3

Mozambican Heroes Day

In 1962, FRELIMO. Founded. The Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) is founded to fight for the independence of Mozambique from Portuguese colonial rule

📅 holiday Feb 10

Feast of St Paul's Shipwreck

The Feast of Saint Paul’s Shipwreck is a holiday unique to Malta because it was on Malta that the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked around the year A.D. 60. In 2027, Feast of St Paul's Shipwreck falls on Wednesday 10 February. The holiday will be on Thursday 10 February in 2028. The feast is kept on February 10th each year, and as Paul is the patron saint of Malta, it is a much-anticipated event. Out of dozens of “saint days” on the church calendar in Malta, the Feast of Saint Paul is one of only a handful that have the status of a national holiday. The account of Paul’s shipwreck and three-month, wintertime stay on Malta is found in the Bible’s Acts 27:27 through 28:11. He was being taken to Rome as a prisoner to eventually stand trial before Caesar. God let him know in advance he would be shipwrecked but would spare the lives of all on board, which promise was later kept and in answer to Paul’s prayers for their lives. The Bible says the storm was in the Adriatic Sea, though Malta borders the Ionian Sea, because in ancient times, the Adriatic’s boundaries were considered to extend much farther south. The ship broke up on the rocks near the shores of Malta, and all swam ashore. The local population greeted them, but thought he might be a murderer whom the “goddess of justice” had finally caught up with after he was bitten by a poisonous snake. After he lived, however, they supposed him to be, perhaps, a god. Paul, however, soon showed them it was God’s power at work in a mere man by healing the governor of the island, Publius, and many others who were sick or disabled among the island’s population. No doubt, Paul preached the Gospel to them as well, and when he left Malta, the inhabitants gave him all necessary supplies out of gratitude. The Feast of Saint Paul’s Shipwreck is kept at the “Parish Church of Saint Paul Shipwrecked” in Malta’s capital city of Valletta. It is also a day of processions and family get-togethers. Three things to do should you visit Malta, though hopefully not be shipwrecked there, on February 10th are:

📅 holiday Feb 23

Defender of the Fatherland Day

Defender of the Fatherland Day is a public holiday in RU.

📅 holiday Mar 19

St Joseph's Day

Every 19 March is celebrated as Saint Joseph’s Day in Roman Catholic cantons of the Swiss Confederation. In 2027, St Joseph's Day falls on Friday 19 March. The holiday will be on Sunday 19 March in 2028. However, in recent years, people have paid it less and less mind, and many local businesses in these regions don’t even close on Saint Joseph’s Day like they used to. Interestingly, there are two different religious feast days dedicated to Joseph in Roman Catholicism. Saint Joseph’s Day focuses on his role as the husband of Mary and “step father” of the child Jesus. But on 1 May, Saint Joseph the Worker day focuses on his role as the patron saint of all carpenters. There aren’t many events in areas of Switzerland celebrating Saint Joseph’s Day on 19 March. For those who have the day off, it is often spent relaxing, shopping or getting outdoors in the Spring weather.

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