When Is Chinese New Year 2025? Why Monday’s Rare ‘Black Moon’ Sets Up ‘Year Of The Snake’

When is Chinese New Year? The new moon on Monday, Dec. 30 — the last of 2024 — is a rare black moon, according to Timeanddate. It will also begin a countdown to one of the year’s most culturally significant new moons, which will be precisely one lunation later on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

January’s new moon will signal the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year (also called Chinese New Year), the Year of the Snake. This 15-day celebration is based on the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar, which uses the moon’s phases and the Earth’s orbit around the sun.

Here’s everything you need to know about Chinese Lunar New Year 2025:

What Is The Chinese Lunar New Year?

Chinese Lunar New Year, also called Spring Festival, is one of the most significant celebrations in China and is observed by millions of people worldwide. This 15-day festival begins with the first New Moon of the lunar calendar and ends with the Lantern Festival on the Full Moon. Chinese New Year. It starts with the new moon between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20 each year.

A new moon occurs when the moon is roughly between the Earth and the sun, so it’s lost in our star’s glare from our point of view.

When Is The Chinese Lunar New Year In 2025?

In 2025, the Chinese Lunar New Year begins on Wednesday, Jan. 29, and lasts until the Lantern Festival on Wednesday, Feb. 12, with the rising of the full moon — this year called the “Snow Moon.”

What Is The Chinese Lunar New Year Animal In 2025?

2025 sees the beginning of the “Year of the Wood Snake,” which will continue until Feb. 16, 2026, when the “Year of the Horse” begins.

The Chinese zodiac features a 12-year cycle of animals. Each zodiac year also incorporates one of five elements—wood, fire, Earth, metal, or water—creating a 60-year cycle. So, while the animal repeats every 12 years, the animal and the element together repeat only every 60 years. For example, the last “Year of the Wood Snake” was in 1965.

What Is A ‘Black Moon?’

A black moon is a quirk of the calendar. The term is typically and most commonly applied to the second of two new moons in the same month. It’s rare but inevitable because there’s a new moon every 29.5 days. So if there’s a new moon on the first day or two of a month, there’s a good chance that there will be another at the end of the month — a monthly black moon. Western regions of North America had a black moon in November, but for most of the world, December 2024 had two new moons on Dec. 1 and 30.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.