Is Lunar New Year a holiday in the U.S.? In 2024, efforts are growing at state and federal levels

09 Feb Is Lunar New Year a holiday in the U.S.? In 2024, efforts are growing at state and federal levels

The Lunar New Year is set to kick off this Saturday. Also referred to as the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, the annual 15-day celebration begins with the new moon and lasts until the following full moon. This year, that means the celebration starts on February 10 and ends with a lantern festival on February 24.

The event welcomes the beginning of spring and the first new moon of the lunar calendar, as well as the changing of the zodiac sign: This is the Year of the Dragon.

The Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in China and many other Asian countries. In China, it’s a public holiday from February 10 through February 17. However, in the United States, for many Asian Americans, the day ends up being a traditional workday, with the exception of a few states and cities that have recently adopted legislation or are working on passing bills to make it a public holiday.

In Washington State, lawmakers have introduced a bill to make the Lunar New Year an official state holiday. The bill failed once, but is being put forth again, with the request being framed as the state’s response to the anti-Asian hate crimes that have happened in Washington and elsewhere in the country—and as a sign of recognition and respect for Asian American communities in the U.S.

New Jersey is one of the most recent states to make the Lunar New Year a public holiday, after its governor signed a joint resolution earlier this month. New Jersey follows in the footsteps of its neighbor, New York State, which officially recognized Lunar New Year as a public holiday in September of last year.

The first state to recognize the Lunar New Year as a public holiday was California, which only did so in September 2022. Boston—the only U.S. city that independently recognizes the holiday—followed in February of 2023, and Colorado became the second state to recognize it as a public holiday, in June 2023.

There have been proposals to make the Lunar New Year a federal holiday, including a package of legislation introduced by Rep. Grace Meng, first vice chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. While the legislation has not yet been taken up, given the political momentum, it’s possible Lunar New Year could be established as the 12th federal holiday to be recognized nationwide.

As for those in the country who celebrate regardless of official designations, traditions for the holiday include wearing red and having a celebratory new year’s meal with family. The event is also often marked with a fireworks celebration. That tradition stems from an ancient story of a monster named Nian who was harming villages. The villagers set off explosions to scare the monster, and now the practice is done to ward off all manner of monsters in the new year.

In that sense, the holiday is largely focused on removing the bad and old from the previous year, and welcoming in the new and good. That’s a sentiment that rings true everywhere. So to all, we say, gong hei fat choi—Cantonese for, Wishing you a prosperous year!

Source: Fast Company