The lantern festival in 2027 falls on Saturday 20 February 2027, the 15th day of the first lunar month (正月十五 zhēngyuè shíwǔ). In 2026 it fell on Tuesday 3 March 2026. It is the first full moon of the lunar year and the last day of the New Year season, so whatever was left open at Chinese New Year is, by custom, closed on this night.
In Chinese it is 元宵 (元宵 Yuánxiāo), the “first night” of the year’s moon. In Singapore and Malaysia most families know it by its Hokkien name, Chap Goh Mei. Both names point to the same evening; they simply come from different languages.
Lantern Festival 2027 and 2026 at a glance
| 2027 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Saturday 2027-02-20 | Tuesday 2026-03-03 |
| Lunar date | 正月十五 | 正月十五 |
| Day pillar | 庚午 (Gēng Wǔ — Yang Metal over Fire Horse) | 丙子 (Bǐng Zǐ — Yang Fire over Water Rat) |
| Month pillar | 壬寅 | 庚寅 |
| Day officer | 定 Stable | 开 Open |
| Clashes | Rat | Horse |
The date moves each year because the festival is fixed to the lunar calendar, not the solar one. Chinese New Year 2027 is Saturday 6 February 2027, and the 15th day lands exactly two weeks later. If you want to see how the lunar months are laid out across the year, our guide to the Chinese lunar calendar walks through it.
How families keep the night
The customs are simple and have changed little. Families hang or carry lanterns, which give the festival its English name. Lantern riddles (猜灯谜 cāi dēngmí, “guessing lantern riddles”) are written on slips and hung from the lanterns for others to solve, a quiet game that suits a mixed table of grandparents and children.
The food of the night is tangyuan (汤圆 tāngyuán), also called yuanxiao after the festival itself: sweet glutinous rice balls served in syrup or soup. Many families make them together at home. It is the last festive meal of the season before ordinary routines return.
Because this is the closing day of the New Year, it carries a sense of completion. The fifteen days that began with the reunion dinner end here. If you are still planning the start of the season, our page on Chinese New Year 2027 covers the opening days, and the lo hei toss usually happens somewhere in between.
Chap Goh Mei and the orange-throwing custom
Chap Goh Mei comes from the Hokkien 十五暝, “fifteenth night”. The name is used across Singapore and Malaysia, including by families who do not otherwise speak Hokkien.
The custom most associated with the name belongs to Penang and other parts of Malaysia. Single women traditionally throw mandarin oranges into the sea on this night while wishing for a good husband. It is a light-hearted tradition, part hope and part social occasion, and it is the reason some people call Chap Goh Mei the Chinese Valentine’s Day of the region.
That title is shared. Across the wider Chinese world, Chinese Valentine’s Day usually means Qixi, the seventh night of the seventh lunar month. Our page on the Qixi festival tells that story, of the cowherd and the weaver girl. In Singapore you will hear both used, and neither is wrong; they mark different evenings with different moods.
The lantern festival in a Ba Zi chart
In Ba Zi (八字 bāzì), every day carries its own pillar of a Heavenly Stem over an Earthly Branch. The lantern festival in 2027 is a 庚午 day (Gēng Wǔ — Yang Metal over Fire Horse), inside the 壬寅 month (Rén Yín — Yang Water over Wood Tiger), which runs from the start of spring on 2027-02-04 09:45. If the stems and branches are new to you, start with the stems and branches.
The almanac’s day officer (建除十二神 jiànchú shí’èr shén) for 20 February 2027 is 定 Dìng, Stable. In the traditional reading it favours agreements, engagements and setting foundations, and it advises against travel and litigation. The day’s branch 午 clashes with the Rat. You can see any day’s officer on the Chinese calendar today page, or read how the officers work in our tong shu guide.
Keep this in proportion. A day pillar is shared by everyone alive on that date, so on its own it says very little about any one person. In charts we read, a day like this matters when it touches something already in your own pillars, such as your Day Master or the branch of your day pillar. Without your chart in view, the officer is a general almanac note, not a personal forecast.
Closing the New Year season well
The practical meaning of the lantern festival is a clean ending. The visiting is done, the ang pow have been given, the last tangyuan are eaten, and the household turns back to work. Many people find it a natural point to set the year’s intentions, now that the noise of the first fortnight has passed.
If you want to see how the 2027 season sits against your own pillars, start with the chart itself. Find the lantern festival’s day pillar against your own chart: plot it free with the Ba Zi calculator.