The Qixi Festival (七夕 Qīxī) falls on Sunday 8 August 2027, the 7th day of the 7th lunar month (七月初七). In 2026 it fell on Wednesday 19 August. Widely known as Chinese Valentine’s Day, it is an old festival with an older story.
This page covers the date, the story of the cowherd and the weaver girl, the customs families keep, and what the day looks like in a Ba Zi (八字 bāzì) chart.
When is the Qixi Festival in 2027
Qixi is fixed to the lunar calendar, not the solar one, so its Gregorian date moves each year. The seventh lunar month of 2027 begins on 2 August, which puts its seventh day on Sunday 8 August 2027. You can see the full run of lunar months on our Chinese lunar calendar.
| Year | Date | Lunar date | Day pillar | Month pillar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Wednesday 19 August 2026 | 七月初七 | 乙丑 (Yǐ Chǒu — Yin Wood over Earth Ox) | 丙申 |
| 2027 | Sunday 8 August 2027 | 七月初七 | 己未 (Jǐ Wèi — Yin Earth over Earth Goat) | 戊申 |
Two things make the 2027 date worth noticing. It sits inside the seventh lunar month, often called Hungry Ghost month, which runs from 2 August to 31 August 2027. And it falls on the same morning as 立秋 (Lìqiū, Start of Autumn), the solar term that begins a new Ba Zi month at 01:26 Singapore time.
The cowherd and the weaver girl
The story behind Qixi is a love story about distance. 牛郎 Niúláng, the cowherd, and 织女 Zhīnǚ, the weaver girl, fall in love and are separated by the Milky Way. They are allowed to meet only once a year, on the seventh night of the seventh month, when magpies gather to form a bridge across the river of stars, the 鹊桥 (quèqiáo, magpie bridge).
The two lovers are also two stars. Niulang is Altair and Zhinu is Vega, two bright points that sit on opposite sides of the Milky Way. On a clear night, the separation the story describes is right there overhead.
Tellings differ in the details. The core stays the same: devotion, a long wait, and one night a year.
Qixi customs: from 乞巧 to Chinese Valentine’s Day
The older name for many of the festival’s customs is 乞巧 (qǐqiǎo, “begging for skill”). Because Zhinu was a weaver, young women traditionally used the night to show their weaving and needle skills, and to ask for a deft hand in the year ahead. In that older form, Qixi was as much about craft and diligence as about romance.
Today the emphasis has shifted. For most people Qixi is a couples’ occasion, which is why it is so widely called Chinese Valentine’s Day. Couples mark it by spending the evening together, with the old story as the backdrop.
In Singapore and Malaysia there is a second contender for the nickname. Chap Goh Mei, the fifteenth night of the New Year, has its own matchmaking custom of single women throwing mandarin oranges into the sea; we cover it on the Lantern Festival page. Qixi holds the Chinese Valentine’s Day name more widely.
Qixi inside Hungry Ghost month
In 2027 the Qixi Festival falls in the first half of the seventh lunar month, before the Zhong Yuan (中元 Zhōngyuán) day on 16 August. Some families keep celebrations quieter during this month, and some couples take that into account when choosing how to mark the day. It is something people weigh, not a rule. Our guide to Hungry Ghost month 2027 sets out the dates and the customs families keep through the month.
Qixi in a Ba Zi chart
At midday in Singapore on 8 August 2027, the day pillar is 己未 (Jǐ Wèi — Yin Earth over Earth Goat) and the month pillar is 戊申 (Wù Shēn — Yang Earth over Metal Monkey). The day officer (建除十二神 jiànchú shí’èr shén) is 闭 (Bì, Close), and the day clashes the Ox.
The timing has one practical consequence. The 戊申 month begins at 立秋, 2027-08-08 01:26. A child born on Qixi 2027 after 01:26 has a 戊申 month pillar; a child born in the small hours before it still has the 丁未 (Dīng Wèi — Yin Fire over Earth Goat) month pillar of the previous solar month. The lunar date is the same for both. The Ba Zi month is not. This is the classic mistake people make with festival birthdays: the lunar calendar and the solar-term calendar are two different clocks.
闭 Close is traditionally favourable for closing accounts, rest and sealing agreements, and is avoided for openings and taking office. You can check the officer for any day on the Chinese calendar today page or in our Tong Shu guide.
Keep this in proportion. A day pillar and an officer describe the day for everyone. They say very little about any one couple. What matters for a relationship is how two full charts meet: the Day Masters, the spouse palace in each day branch, and the luck pillars each person is walking through. That is the work of Ba Zi marriage compatibility, and it does not change with the date on which you choose to celebrate.
Marking the Qixi Festival well
If you are planning around Qixi in 2027, the useful facts are simple. It is Sunday 8 August. It sits in Hungry Ghost month, so check with older family members if that matters in your household. And if a baby is due that week, note the birth time carefully, because the Ba Zi month changes in the early hours of that same day.
Beyond that, the festival asks for very little: a clear evening, a look at Altair and Vega, and time with the person the story reminds you of. Later in the season, the Mid-Autumn Festival follows on 15 September 2027.
If Qixi has you thinking about a relationship rather than a date, book one of our readings. It is one hour with both charts on the table, a plain look at how they fit and where the timing sits, and a written summary afterwards. No fear-selling.