2AuguJapan
Festivals & seasons
The Asian festival calendar
2027Four calendars coexist from Beijing to Seoul: the Gregorian, the Chinese lunisolar, the 24 solar terms and Singapore’s Hijri. Here is where they fall this year, across China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore.
Coming up
The next dates, wherever they land in the region.
Under way2Augu
2AuguIn 5 days9Augu
Singapore
Singapore National Day
The 1965 independence replayed every year as a millimetre-perfect parade over the bay.
9 AugustFixed date
In 8 days12Augu
Japan
Awa Odori阿波踊り
In Tokushima, a hundred thousand dancers over four nights: “fools dance, fools watch — you may as well dance”.
In 9 days13Augu
Japan
Obonお盆
The dead return to the family home for three days; lanterns guide them and the bon odori is danced on the square.
13 – 16 AugustFixed date
In 11 days
15Augu
15AuguSouth Korea
National Liberation Day
15 August 1945 ended thirty-five years of Japanese rule; it is also the only public holiday shared by both Koreas.
The whole year
Filter by territory or by kind of festival. Lunar and solar dates are recomputed for the year on display, never copied from one year to the next.
86 festivals
Territory
Kind
Spring
22South Korea
Independence Movement Day삼일절
In 1919 two million Koreans demonstrated peacefully against Japanese rule; it is the founding act of modern nationalism.
Japan
Hinamatsuri雛祭り
The girls’ festival: Heian court dolls on seven red tiers, to be packed away the same evening or risk a late marriage.
3 MarchFixed date
China
Dragon Head Raising龙抬头
The rain dragon wakes and ploughing starts; people finally get the haircut forbidden since New Year.
Singapore
Hari Raya Puasa
The end of Ramadan for Singapore’s Malay community: open houses, kuih by the dozen and Geylang Serai lit up.
9 March(approximate date)Hijri calendar
JapanSouth KoreaTaiwan
White Dayホワイトデー
One month after Valentine’s, men return the favour — invented by a Fukuoka confectioner in 1978.
Japan
Vernal Equinox Day春分の日
The spring equinox is a public holiday: it is also ohigan, the week for cleaning the family graves.
21 MarchSolar term
ChinaTaiwanHong Kong+1
Qingming Festival清明节
Tomb-Sweeping Day: graves are cleaned, spirit money is burned, and then families picnic in the spring air.
Japan
Spring Takayama Festival高山祭
Twelve seventeenth-century floats and their wooden automata cross a mountain town frozen in the Edo era.
14 – 15 AprilFixed date
South Korea
Black Day블랙데이
On 14 April, those who got nothing on Valentine’s or White Day eat black noodles — together.
Taiwan
Mazu Pilgrimage媽祖遶境
Nine days and 300 kilometres on foot behind the sea goddess’s palanquin: one of the world’s largest religious processions.
29 April – 7 MayLunar calendar
Japan
Golden Weekゴールデンウィーク
Four public holidays in eight days: the whole country goes on holiday at once, and prices follow.
29 April – 5 MayFixed date
ChinaHong KongMacau+1
Labour Day劳动节
China’s second “golden week”: five days off and tourist sites packed from one end of the country to the other.
1 – 5 MayFixed date
Japan
Children’s Dayこどもの日
Cloth carp snap in the wind above the houses, one per child, because the carp swims up waterfalls.
5 MayFixed date
South Korea
Children’s Day어린이날
A public holiday entirely for children; theme parks packed and presents compulsory.
5 MayFixed date
South Korea
Parents’ Day어버이날
A red carnation is pinned to your parents’ lapel: Korea merged Mother’s and Father’s Day into one.
8 MayFixed date
Hong KongMacau
Buddha’s Birthday佛誕
The infant Buddha statue is bathed in scented water; a public holiday in Hong Kong since 1999.
13 MayLunar calendar
Hong Kong
Cheung Chau Bun Festival長洲太平清醮
An entire island goes vegetarian for three days, then climbers race up a 14-metre tower covered in buns.
13 MayLunar calendar
South Korea
Buddha’s Birthday부처님 오신 날
Tens of thousands of rice-paper lanterns strung across temples and the avenues of Seoul.
Japan
Aoi Matsuri葵祭
Five hundred extras in Heian costume walk across Kyoto: the oldest of the city’s three great festivals.
15 MayFixed date
Japan
Sanja Matsuri三社祭
Asakusa in a trance: a hundred portable shrines, two million people and yakuza tattoos on show once a year.
15 MayFixed date
Summer
18South Korea
Memorial Day현충일
At 10 a.m. a siren covers the whole country and everyone stops for one minute for the Korean War dead.
6 JuneFixed date
ChinaTaiwanHong Kong+2
Dragon Boat Festival端午节
Dragon-headed canoe races and glutinous rice zongzi, in memory of a poet who drowned twenty-three centuries ago.
South Korea
Dano단오
Mid-point of the farming spring: hair washed in iris water, giant swings and ssireum wrestling on sand.
Hong Kong
HKSAR Establishment Day香港特別行政區成立紀念日
On 1 July 1997 Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty: an official ceremony in the morning, political history the rest of the day.
1 JulyFixed date
Japan
Gion Matsuri祇園祭
A full month of rites in Kyoto, two processions of twenty-five-tonne floats, and one origin: warding off an epidemic in 869.
1 – 31 JulyFixed date
Japan
Tanabata七夕
The Japanese take on Qixi: paper wishes are hung on bamboo, and Sendai turns it into a million-visitor festival in August.
7 JulyFixed date
Japan
Fireworks season花火大会
Hundreds of hanabi taikai all summer, in yukata, with the river as a stage and the yakisoba stall as intermission.
15 July – 31 August(approximate date)Approximate window
South Korea
Boryeong Mud Festival보령머드축제
Invented in 1998 to sell mud cosmetics, now the festival most attended by foreigners in Korea.
18 – 27 JulyFixed date
Japan
Marine Day海の日
The world’s only public holiday dedicated to the sea, and the unofficial start of beach season.
19 JulyFixed date
Japan
Tenjin Matsuri天神祭
Osaka celebrates its god of letters on the water: a hundred lit boats go up the river under five thousand fireworks.
24 – 25 JulyFixed date
ChinaTaiwan
Qixi Festival七夕
The Chinese Valentine’s Day: the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd, split by the Milky Way, meet one night a year on a bridge of magpies.
South Korea
Chilseok칠석
The Korean take on Qixi, in the middle of monsoon: that day’s rain is the tears of the two reunited lovers.
8 AugustLunar calendar
Singapore
Singapore National Day
The 1965 independence replayed every year as a millimetre-perfect parade over the bay.
9 AugustFixed date
Japan
Awa Odori阿波踊り
In Tokushima, a hundred thousand dancers over four nights: “fools dance, fools watch — you may as well dance”.
Japan
Obonお盆
The dead return to the family home for three days; lanterns guide them and the bon odori is danced on the square.
13 – 16 AugustFixed date
South Korea
National Liberation Day광복절
15 August 1945 ended thirty-five years of Japanese rule; it is also the only public holiday shared by both Koreas.
ChinaTaiwanSingapore+1
Hungry Ghost Festival中元节
The month the gates of hell open: food offerings by the roadside, opera performed for deliberately empty front rows.
Autumn
22ChinaTaiwanHong Kong+2
Mid-Autumn Festival中秋节
The second-biggest festival of the Chinese calendar: mooncakes, family reunions and the roundest full moon of the year.
Japan
Tsukimi月見
Autumn moon-viewing, with dango stacked in a pyramid and a rabbit pounding mochi in the craters.
15 SeptemberLunar calendar
Japan
Respect for the Aged Day敬老の日
A public holiday for the elderly in the world’s oldest country; town halls publish the centenarian count.
20 SeptemberFixed date
Japan
Autumnal Equinox Day秋分の日
The autumn equinox, the year’s second ohigan: grave visits and ohagi coated in red bean paste.
23 SeptemberSolar term
ChinaHong KongMacau
Chinese National Day国庆节
October’s “golden week”: seven days off, 800 million trips and Tiananmen Square under flowers.
1 – 7 OctoberFixed date
Japan
Momijigari紅葉狩り
The “maple hunt”: this time the red-leaf front descends north to south, and temples open after dark.
1 October – 10 December(approximate date)Approximate window
South Korea
Jinju Lantern Festival진주남강유등축제
Floating lanterns cover the Nam river, echoing those used as signals during the 1592 siege.
1 – 11 OctoberFixed date
South Korea
National Foundation Day개천절
“The day the heavens opened”: the mythical founding of Gojoseon by Dangun, in 2333 BCE.
ChinaTaiwanHong Kong
Double Ninth Festival重阳节
The double ninth: climb to high ground, drink chrysanthemum wine and pay a visit to the elderly.
South Korea
Hangeul Day한글날
The world’s only public holiday devoted to an alphabet — the one King Sejong published in 1446 so that commoners could write.
Taiwan
Double Tenth Day雙十節
The national day of the Republic of China, marking the 1911 Wuchang uprising.
10 OctoberFixed date
Japan
Sports Dayスポーツの日
Inherited from the opening of the 1964 Tokyo Games: every school in the country holds its undōkai, relay race included.
11 OctoberFixed date
Singapore
Deepavali
The Hindu festival of lights lights up Little India for a month; the exact date follows the Indian lunisolar calendar.
15 October – 15 November(approximate date)Approximate window
Japan
Jidai Matsuri時代祭
Twelve centuries of Kyoto history parade in period costume, newest to oldest, over two kilometres.
22 OctoberFixed date
South Korea
Kimjang김장
The great collective making of winter kimchi, hundreds of cabbages per family, on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list.
Japan
Culture Day文化の日
Culture Day: free museums, the Order of Culture awards and the anniversary of the 1946 Constitution.
3 NovemberFixed date
China
Singles’ Day双十一
Born as a joke among Nanjing students, now the biggest shopping day on the planet.
South Korea
Pepero Day빼빼로데이
11/11 looks like four biscuit sticks in a row: Korea exchanges chocolate sticks by the million boxes.
Japan
Shichi-Go-San七五三
Children of seven, five and three in kimono at the shrine, with the arm-long chitose-ame candy stick.
15 NovemberFixed date
South Korea
Suneung exam day수능
On university entrance exam day the stock exchange opens late and planes stay grounded during the listening test.
Winter
24Japan
Shōgatsu正月
Japanese New Year, on the Gregorian calendar since 1873: the first shrine visit, osechi in lacquered boxes, greeting cards.
1 – 3 JanuaryFixed date
China
Harbin Ice Festival哈尔滨国际冰雪节
A whole city carved from Songhua river ice and lit from within, at −25 °C.
Japan
Coming of Age Day成人の日
The day twenty-year-olds become adults in public: furisode, hakama and a speech at the town hall.
11 JanuaryFixed date
China
Laba Festival腊八节
The eight-treasure congee that officially opens the countdown to lunar New Year, a month before the reunion dinner.
15 JanuaryLunar calendar
China
Little New Year小年
The Kitchen God is sent back to heaven with sticky sweets and the house is scrubbed top to bottom: the week of preparation begins.
30 JanuaryLunar calendar
Japan
Setsubun節分
The eve of the solar calendar’s spring: soybeans are thrown at demons to the cry of “oni wa soto”.
3 FebruaryFixed date
Japan
Sapporo Snow Festivalさっぽろ雪まつり
Two million visitors for building-sized snow sculptures in Ōdōri Park.
4 – 10 FebruaryFixed date
ChinaTaiwanHong Kong+1
Red envelopes红包
Asia’s most codified money ritual: who gives to whom, how much, and why the number 4 is off-limits.
South Korea
Seollal설날
Korean New Year: elders are greeted with a full bow, tteokguk soup adds a year to your age, and everyone plays yunnori.
Japan
National Foundation Day建国記念の日
The legendary date of the first emperor Jinmu’s enthronement, in 660 BCE.
11 FebruaryFixed date
JapanSouth Korea
Valentine’s Dayバレンタインデー
In Japan and Korea it is women who give the chocolate — giri-choco at the office, honmei-choco to the one you love.
ChinaTaiwanHong Kong+1
Lantern Festival元宵节
Fifteen days after New Year, the year’s first full moon closes the festivities: lanterns, riddles and glutinous rice balls.
Taiwan
Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival平溪天燈節
Thousands of wish-bearing paper lanterns rise over a railway valley in northern Taiwan.
21 FebruaryLunar calendar
South Korea
Daeboreum대보름
The first full moon: nuts are cracked to break the year’s misfortunes and straw piles are burned in the fields.
21 FebruaryLunar calendar
Singapore
Chingay Parade妆艺大游行
South-East Asia’s largest street parade, born of a firecracker ban: floats, lions and every community of the city-state.
28 February – 1 MarchLunar calendar
Taiwan
Peace Memorial Day和平紀念日
Memorial day for the 1947 crackdown, unspeakable for decades and a public holiday since 1997.
28 FebruaryFixed date
Macau
Macau Handover Day
On 20 December 1999 the last European outpost in Asia changed hands after 442 Portuguese years.
ChinaTaiwanHong Kong+1
Winter Solstice Festival冬至
The longest night is eaten: tangyuan in the south, dumplings in the north, and the yang starts climbing back.
22 DecemberSolar term
South Korea
Dongji동지
At the solstice, patjuk is eaten — a red bean porridge whose colour drives evil spirits from the house.
22 DecemberSolar term
Japan
Japanese Christmasクリスマス
Neither a holiday nor religious: it is a couples’ evening, with fried chicken booked weeks ahead and strawberry shortcake.
24 DecemberFixed date
Japan
Ōmisoka大晦日
New Year’s Eve: toshikoshi buckwheat noodles, a deep clean, and 108 bell strikes for the 108 human passions.
31 DecemberFixed date
Japan
Namahageなまはげ
On the Oga peninsula, straw-clad demons enter homes on New Year’s Eve to terrify lazy children.
The foundation
The 24 solar terms
Before the festivals comes the division of the sky. The 24 jieqi split the solar year into fortnights that govern sowing, harvest and half the festivals on this page — Qingming and Dongzhi are two of them.
Spring
- 驚蟄Awakening of insects6 Mar
- 春分Spring equinox21 Mar
- 清明Pure brightness5 Apr
- 穀雨Grain rain20 Apr
- 立夏Start of summer6 May
- 小滿Grain buds21 May
Summer
- 芒種Grain in ear6 Jun
- 夏至Summer solstice21 Jun
- 小暑Minor heat7 Jul
- 大暑Major heat23 Jul
- 立秋Start of autumn8 Aug
- 處暑End of heat23 Aug
Autumn
- 白露White dew8 Sept
- 秋分Autumn equinox23 Sept
- 寒露Cold dew8 Oct
- 霜降Frost descent23 Oct
- 立冬Start of winter7 Nov
- 小雪Minor snow22 Nov
Winter
- 小寒Minor cold5 Jan
- 大寒Major cold20 Jan
- 立春Start of spring4 Feb
- 雨水Rain water19 Feb
- 大雪Major snow7 Dec
- 冬至Winter solstice22 Dec
2027
七十二候
And Japan cut them into 72
Each Japanese solar term subdivides into three five-day micro-seasons, named after what is happening outside: “mist lingers”, “earthworms surface”, “the pheasant cries”. Seventy-two windows for a single year.
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