What is the Year of the Snake? Celebrating Lunar New Year in 2025

Snakes are often associated with wickedness or evil, but in Chinese mythology, these reptiles have a more positive meaning.

The Year of the Snake is the sixth of the twelve-year cycle of animals in the Chinese Zodiac and begins on Wednesday, Jan. 29, also known as the start of the 2025 Lunar New Year.

Here's everything to know about celebrating the international holiday.

What is Lunar New Year?

The Lunar New Year is a holiday in many Asian cultures that brings families and communities together to celebrate good fortune, prosperity, and renewal for the year ahead.

"It is a time for friends and family to come together to really celebrate through delicious foods, honor traditions, and one of my favorite parts; the red envelopes or hongbao in Chinese," said Athan Lau who holds the community leader seat on the City of Tulsa's Asian Affairs Commission.

He said the red envelopes are a gift from the older generations to the younger generations and are filled with money to bring in the new year with prosperity and fortune.

Much like in Western culture, the Lunar New Year is also a time to honor the past and embrace hope for the future. "Lunar New Year is about a new year," said Sarah Gilpin, the chairwoman of the City of Tulsa's Asian Affairs Commission. "We ring it in with supporting each other, our family, and our culture."

What is the Year of the Snake?

The Lunar New Year falls on different dates every year and lasts beyond one night. It follows a lunar calendar based on the moon's 12 phases.

These phases are represented in the Chinese Zodiac with 12 different animal signs: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit (or cat in Vietnam), dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar/pig.

Since it is the sixth animal in the cycle, the last time the Year of the Snake was celebrated was in 2013. In Chinese mythology, snakes are associated with intelligence, resilience, and love. Lau added, "Within Asian culture we view it as transformation, a time for change, and really just growth in general."

How to celebrate the Lunar New Year?

The Lunar New Year is observed in many Asian countries including China, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, and Indonesia, and is celebrated across the United States.

"I think Lunar New Year has been kind of identified as a Chinese cultural celebration and it really is not," Gilpin continued saying, "It is celebrated by a broad group of Asian cultures."

The celebrations and events vary by culture. One of the most recognizable is the Lion Dance, a costume dance where performers mimic a lion's movements to bring good luck and fortune. It originated from a folklore story known as the "Legend of Nian" that talks about a monster that attacked a village on new year's eve. Lau said, "An old man advised the villagers to paint the town in red, make loud noises, put off fireworks, and one of the ways to do the loud noises was to make a Lion Dance, so that is how we got the tradition where we have loud, really exciting drums."

Other popular Lunar New Year traditions include decorating homes, wearing red and gold, and enjoying delicious food. 

When is Tulsa's Lunar New Year event?

For the first time, the City of Tulsa Asian Affairs Commission is hosting a free community Lunar New Year event. The commission was established in 2024 under former Tulsa mayor GT Bynum. Gilpin said, "One of our things that we wanted to do to really make ourselves known in the Tulsa community is to share the Asian culture with Tulsa, but also to let our Asian community know that we are here, that they have representation in the city of Tulsa, and that we are listening."

The Lunar New Year event will be on Feb. 1 from 6-9 p.m. at 101 Archer in the Tulsa Arts District.

The celebration will feature a Lion Dance team, China Roses dancers, free food and drink, sparklers, lantern painting, kids' crafts, and raffle prizes.

"Some foods to expect would be a lot of traditional Chinese foods for example crispy vegetable spring rolls, golden pork pot stickers, sesame balls with red bean paste filling, as well as crab rangoon wontons, fried rice, and so much more," said Lau.

The commission hopes the event fosters connections across cultures.

"I believe that this can help pave a road for not just Asian communities, but also anyone of any background," Lau continued saying, This is Tulsa, this is our home, and we would love to learn from our own cultures with each other."