Dos and Don'ts of Lunar New Year

Dos of Lunar New Year: Welcoming Luck and Job

To help you start the year with positivity and prosperity, here are some meaningful traditions to embrace.

1. Dress in Red for Good Fortune: Wear red on both the outside and under your clothes! Red is a lucky colour which symbolises good luck and success.
2. Enjoy Lucky Foods: Feast on lucky foods such as dumplings, rice cakes, fish, dates and mandarins.
3. Decorate with Red to Ward Off Bad Spirits: Being associated with wealth and good fortune, red decorations are hung to ward off Nian (年), a lion-like monster that fears the colour red, so get decorating!
4. Share Mandarins to Spread Good Fortune: Mandarins (柑橘, gan-ju) sounds similar to the word “gold” and “luck” in Chinese, so it’s part of the tradition that people bring along mandarins while visiting family and hand them out as a sign of sharing good fortune.
5. Gift Red Envelopes: Red envelopes (also known as lucky money) are prepared for children by the elderly and given on New Year’s Day as this represents luck and prosperity for the year.
6. Celebrate with Positivity: Be happy and make sure your loved ones are happy. Smile and wish others a Happy Lunar New Year.

Don'ts of Lunar New Year: Avoiding Bad Luck in the New Year

To keep good fortune close, here are some customs traditionally avoided during the early days of Lunar New Year.

1. Skip Haircuts and Hair Washing: Avoid cutting or washing your hair on the first day of the New Year. The Chinese character for hair (发, fa) is the same word in ‘prosper’. This means washing or cutting it off is seen as washing your good fortune away and dramatically reduces chances of prosperity in the year ahead.
2. Avoid Buying Books on New Year’s Day: The Chinese word for “book” (书, shū) sounds the same as the word for “lose”, so buying a book right after ringing in the New Year is considered an invitation for bad luck.
3. Don’t Clean or Take Out Rubbish: Sweeping on New Year’s Day is associated with sweeping wealth away. Taking out garbage symbolises dumping good luck and fortune from your home.
4. Don’t Wash Clothes: Don’t wash your clothes on the first and second day of the New Year, as these two days are celebrated as the birthday of the God of Water, and washing clothes is regarded as disrespectful. It is believed that pouring away water after washing clothes invokes pouring your wealth away.
5. Avoid Using Knives and Scissors: Using knives and scissors on the first day of the Lunar New Year symbolises cutting away your wealth, so prepare your meals the day before to avoid this.
6. Don’t Borrow or Lend Money: It’s considered important to pay off all debts before the first day of the Lunar New Year. In addition, avoid borrowing or lending money during the 15 days of celebration, as doing either is believed to lead to struggles with money in the year ahead.

Celebrating Lunar New Year in Parramatta

Parramatta’s Lunar New Year celebrations bring these traditions to life across two major free community events: Parramatta Square on Friday 20 February 2026 and Boronia Park in Epping on Saturday 21 February 2026.

Experience a vibrant mix of traditional and contemporary festivities - from high‑pole lion dancing and firecrackers to live music, workshops, markets and delicious street food. Designed to honour the rich cultural traditions of Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and many other Asian communities, these celebrations champion respect, cultural understanding and inclusive participation.

Whether you’re exploring art installations, joining hands‑on activities or soaking up the festival atmosphere with family and friends, Lunar New Year in Parramatta is a colourful, welcoming celebration that embraces both heritage and community spirit.

Explore the full Lunar New Year Celebrations