🏮 Chinese New Year 2026

🐎 17 February 2026 – 5 February 2027

Chinese New Year 2026 falls on 17 February, marking the start of the Year of the Fire Horse — a year that runs until 5 February 2027, when the next Chinese New Year hands things over to the following sign. It's a combination that only comes around once every sixty years, last seen in 1966, which makes 2026 a genuinely rare pairing of animal and element rather than a routine turn of the cycle.

As with every Chinese New Year, the day itself is the culmination of weeks of preparation — homes cleaned in the days before, a family reunion dinner on the eve, red envelopes exchanged, and fireworks marking the moment the new year takes over from the old. For 2026 specifically, that changeover also carries the particular energy of the Horse and Fire together: movement, ambition, and a pull toward action rather than waiting things out.

If you're curious what the Fire Horse year might mean for you personally, the first step is knowing your own Chinese zodiac sign — and if you were born in January or February, that takes checking the exact date rather than just the calendar year. Use the calculator on this site to find your sign, then take a look at your Chinese New Year 2026 horoscope once you know it.

Chinese New Year dates

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