Lunar New Year 2026: Chinese Year of the Horse
Mon 16 Feb
Crafts and Chinese National Gala Screening 12-4pm, Warwick SU Performances 4 - 6pm
Warwick Arts Centre and Warwick SU
Happy Lunar New Year 2026!
Thank you for joining us for Lunar New Year at Warwick; it was wonderful to welcome the Chinese Year of the Horse - together.
Brought to life by the Together at Warwick team and an incredible range of student societies, the celebration was filled with vibrant performances, hands‑on crafts, traditional snack tasting, and a wishing tree where so many of you shared your hopes for the year ahead.
Whether you celebrate every year or experienced the festival for the first time, your presence helped make this wonderful event a true celebration of connection, culture, and community.
Thank you for being part of it — and Happy New Year! Photos that captured the day are coming soon and will be shared on our memories page.
And... if you missed the action yesterday, it's not too late to celebrate. Check out all the events taking place this week and book your place below.
Bought to you by Warwick...
Celebration Menu across Warwick Food Outlets
Mon 16- Fri 20 Feb
Have you tried ‘Nian Gao’ (年糕 /nyen-gao/), the traditional ‘year cake'? This sweet, chewy rice cake made from glutinous rice flour and sugar is enjoyed as a symbol of good fortune and wish for a better year ahead!
Join us in celebrating the Lunar New Year this week with our homemade, ginger and sesame sticky rice cakes for just 99p each.
You can find these delightful treats at all Eatwise outlet, including District, Café Library, Café Gibbet Hill, Nexus (NAIC), Coffee Labs (Social Sciences, IBRB, Oculus and Library upstairs), and Red Rocket from Monday 16th to Friday 20th Feb.
What's On outside of Warwick...
Lunar New Year Celebrations Beyond Campus
The celebrations continue for 15 days, giving you plenty of chances to enjoy the festive atmosphere beyond campus as well.
If you are free at the weekend, why not head to Birmingham and see what's on Visit Birmingham or London on Visit London for their annual celebration on 21-22 February?
Both cities offer colourful performances, delicious food and a wonderful chance to experience how this holiday is celebrated in our rich, multicultural society.
Why are we calling it Lunar New Year?
Within our university community, we have students, staff members and alumni from a wide range of backgrounds, many of whom also celebrate this festival in different ways and often with different names including Spring Festival, Seollal, Tet and Losar.
Ahead of organising the celebrations, we have consulted a wide range of cultural societies around the naming convention for this festival including several of the Chinese societies, and many students favour the inclusivity of the term ‘Lunar New Year’ to reflect the wide variety of backgrounds and traditions encompassed in this celebration.
Therefore, in an attempt to increase inclusivity, the University is referring to this festival as the ‘Lunar New Year’, while also referencing the ‘Chinese’ year of the horse, to acknowledge the broad consensus around the Chinese origins of the zodiac animals.
It is also clearly understood that individual societies, students, staff members and our alumni community will use the naming convention that feels most authentic to them.
We hope this helps to explain why we reference the Lunar New Year alongside the Chinese Year of the horse within our University communications.
We feel our decision is in alignment with other key corporations and organisations, including the UN.
More information on the rationale for referring to this celebration as Lunar New Year can be found on the links below:
1) UN News, explains why Lunar New year terminology was chosen:
(Chinese) 联大通过决议将农历新年列为联合国假日| | 1联合国新闻(English version via Google Translate) UN General Assembly passes resolution to designate Lunar New Year as a UN holiday | 1 UN News
2)UN announcement (in a speech): Lunar New Year 2024 | United Nations in China
3) Chinese official news channel (Xinhua News): Spring Festival listed as UN floating holiday-XinhuaLink opens in a new window