Happy New Year!
For the shortest month of the year, February has a lot going on. We have
Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, Ash Wednesday, Mardi Gras,
even the Super Bowl!
And now as countries around the world are becoming more connected, we are learning about international holidays, like the Lunar New Year and the Chinese New Year.
Although these celebrations are related to one another, they are not the same thing.
The Lunar New Year takes place today, February 12. It commemorates the day on which the cycles of lunisolar calendars reset. (A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures whose date indicates both the Moon phase and the time of the solar year.)
A solar year, which is the time it takes the Earth to orbit the sun, lasts 365 days, but a lunar year is shorter. It lasts about 354 days or 12 cycles of the Moon so the date of the celebration changes year to year.
The Chinese New Year kicks off with the new moon which can fall between the end of January and the end of February. This year it is February 11th – 17th, 2021. Festivities can last up to 16 days, but only the first 7 days are considered a public holiday. Each Chinese New Year also marks the year of one of 12 traditional animals, and 2021 is the Year of the Ox. This good news because oxen are hard workers, intelligent and reliable, but never demand praise. It is just the animal we need in 2021!
So Happy Lunar New Year and Chinese New Year to everyone!