Join the biggest Chinese New Year celebrations outside Asia at this massive street party. Hundreds of thousands of revellers will flock to the West End for festivities that kick off with a colourful lion and dragon-filled parade that progresses down Charing Cross Road, Shaftesbury Avenue and through Chinatown. Then, head to Trafalgar Square for free stage shows including martial arts displays, traditional dances, and Chinese pop performances. There's also a family zone in Leicester Square for activities including arts, crafts and dressing up. The festivities culminate with fireworks and techno lion dances as darkness falls.
Giddy up, horoscope fans! In 2026, we're cantering right into the Year of Horse. Like a cobra shedding it’s skin, we are slivering away from 2025’s Year of the Snake and into a brand new era. The Year of the Horse symbolises victorious success and good fortune, which is something we all need a bit of right now. And if you're born in the Year of the Horse then you'll really come into your own, as its a lucky year for this hardworking, warm-hearted and independent herd.
Of course, the new year isn't just celebrated in Chinese culture. Also known as the Lunar New Year, the Spring Festival, Tet and Seollal, it’s celebrated across many more countries in South Asia including Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines, as well in many diaspora communities around the globe.
Traditionally a time for feasting, ritual and partying observed all over the globe, London will be heralding in the festivities in a mega way. In the capital, Chinatown hosts the biggest Lunar New Year celebration outside of Asia, while countless London attractions, cultural hubs, restaurants and other business will host their own bashes to bring in the Year of the Horse.
We’ll be updating this list as and when events are announced, so saddle up and get ready to join in.
When is Chinese New Year celebrated in London in 2026?
In 2026, Chinese New Year falls on Tuesday February 17, ushering in the Year of the Horse. But the best of the festivities are saved for the following weekend. On Sunday, February 22 London’s Chinatown, Trafalgar Square and the West End will fill up with hundreds of thousands of revellers, in the biggest Lunar New Year celebration in the world outside of Asia. The centrepiece of the festivities is a spectacular parade, as well as free performances and, of course, feasting galore.
What does the Year of the Horse mean?
The seventh animal in the cycle of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs, the horse represents power, beauty, success and perseverence.
The last Year of the Horse was in 2014, and you’re known as a horse if you were born in 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, or 2002. If so, tradition has it that you’ll be presented with exciting new opportunities this year. And, being a horse, you’ll know just how to make the most of them: people born in this year are said to be confident, responsible, and friendly, although they're known to hate being reined in.
What date is the London Chinese New Year Parade?
This year’s parade takes place the weekend after the Lunar New Year, on Sunday 22 February, with lion dances taking place around Chinatown in the lead up to the parade for revellers who want to start the celebrations early.
Where does the parade start?
A detailed route and timings for this year’s parade are yet to be announced, but as usual, it will begin by Trafalgar Square and end in Chinatown.
Typically, the parade starts on Charing Cross Road at 10.15am and finishes on Shaftesbury Avenue at around midday, after which a lions’ eye-dotting ceremony takes place in Chinatown, with stage performances in Trafalgar Square. For more details check out our guide to London’s Chinese New Year parade, which we’ll be updating in due course.
As well as the spectacle of the costumed parade and stage performances there are also plenty of ways to join in the celebrations, from tucking into special set-menu dinners around Chinatown and at the city’s best Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and Korean restaurants, to joining historic walks, educational family days and craft workshops.
For more insider advice, be sure to read up on the best of Chinese London.
RECOMMENDED: More great things to do in London this January.
