Lunar New Year in Toronto: How to Celebrate Across the City

Year of the Horse begins February 17, 2026

Lunar New Year is a holiday centred on prosperity, good health, and family, and it is celebrated in Asian communities across the Greater Toronto Area. 

It’s a celebration filled with get-togethers, large feasts, colourful decorations, traditional clothing and age-old customs. This year, February 17, 2026, ushers in the Year of the Horse—and you can bet Toronto’s Asian communities will be celebrating!

Insider tip: While you may hear “Chinese New Year,” the occasion is also celebrated in Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Mongolia, and Singapore, which is why you’ll often see it referred to as Lunar New Year.

Here are some exciting ways to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Toronto. (Spoiler alert: you may notice a thread, and that’s Toronto celebrations built around food, family and friends!)

Spark The Lunar New Year at the Toronto Spring Festival

Lunar New Year marks the end of winter in many Asian countries. Say hello to a season of renewal and hope at the 2nd annual Spark The Lunar New Year Toronto Spring Festival (February 14 & 15, 2026), held downtown at Nathan Phillips Square.

The two-day festival pairs cultural traditions with modern takes, including lion dances, ice-skating shows, and interactive group fitness activities and photo ops. Marketplace vendors hawk cool souvenirs and delicious foods. It all culminates in a fireworks show at 10 p.m., ushering in the powerful energy of the Year of the Horse. 

Lunar New Year food in Toronto

One of the best parts of the Lunar New Year is the food! There are various celebratory meals, but the most important is a dinner feast with extended family on New Year's Eve (February 16, 2026). 

These often-extravagant meals are carefully curated to include dishes with symbolic meaning in their ingredients or names. Some dish names can be quite literal, while others could be plays on words. 

Insider tip: The Chinese New Year saying, 年年有余 (nian nian you yu), translates into “may every year bring you surplus.” The play on words is that 余 (surplus) sounds like 鱼 (fish), which is why every Lunar New Year dinner always has fish. Numerous celebratory dishes are based on this type of double entendre.

If you want to try traditional and modern takes on this food, here are a few ideas for restaurants serving Lunar New Year-inspired food.

Lunar New Year tasting menu at DaiLo

Every year, Chef Nick Liu of DaiLo puts together a special tasting menu that in the past has featured the indulgent lobster longevity noodles, pastrami spring rolls (a traditional symbol of wealth and prosperity), oysters and pearls and steamed whole fish (to symbolize abundance). Menus like this show how symbolic dishes continue to evolve through contemporary technique.

Lunar New Year eats and beats at Hong Shing

Book early if you want in on Hong Shing’s late-night Lunar New Year Party (February 6, 2026), which puts a fresh spin on tradition with an AYCE seafood showcase (think: bluefin tuna, salmon, scallop and more). Project Umami and Chef Wallace Wong curate the eats while DJs Ryla, Jeffy and Baby T spin the beats.

It’s a good example of how Lunar New Year celebrations in Toronto often extend beyond daytime traditions into social, late-night events.
 

East-meets-west afternoon tea at the Shangri-La Lobby Lounge

Known for their elegant style and creative flair, the Shangri-La Gateway to Asia Afternoon Tea (February 12–March 29, 2026)  is one you shouldn’t miss.

Expect each bite to be a symphony of flavours, with freshly baked house scones served alongside Hong Kong-style Praw Har Gow, Singapore-inspired mushroom dumplings and other Asian bites. Toast the Year of the Horse with premium tea, a glass of Prosecco or a zero-proof mocktail. It’s an easy entry point for visitors curious about Lunar New Year flavours in a familiar format.

MICHELIN-recognized modern Canadian Asian cuisine at R&D

Chinatown’s R&D (a MICHELIN-recognized restaurant) also serves special dishes for the Lunar New Year weekend in addition to the restaurant’s regular menu. 

Lunar New Year foodie gifts in Toronto

Another staple of the new year in Chinese traditions is to have a red lacquered box with compartments filled with candies and snacks called The Tray of Togetherness.

This box usually features six or eight compartments—six symbolizing luck and eight for fortune.  

Meant for visiting family members, you’ll find edible treats ranging from gold-foiled chocolate Toonies, candied winter melon, watermelon seeds, fried dough twists and sesame balls, to name a few. Of course, every single one has a wordplay or meaning behind it.

Outside these candy boxes, there are plenty of other traditional foods, such as rice cakes, turnip cakes, traditional Korean cookies called hangwa, and Vietnamese banana-leaf-wrapped banh chung. These can be eaten as snacks or as part of a larger meal.

You can pick up these snacks individually from bakeries such as Wai Tack Kee and Saint Germain Bakery, or you can go to T&T Supermarkets for a wide array of gift boxes ready to go with an assortment of lucky snacks.

Where to buy Lunar New Year decorations and red envelopes in Toronto

Alongside all of that food during Lunar New Year, it’s customary to decorate your house inside and out. Decorations are typically red and will be accompanied by sayings of luck and happiness. Popular items include lanterns, upside-down words for luck, a kumquat tree, blooming flowers and new year banners.

Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of the Lunar New Year is the Chinese tradition of giving red envelopes filled with money.

If you’re looking to purchase red envelopes and other Lunar New Year decorations, a great place to buy them is at One’s Better Living, which has several locations across the GTA, including Scarborough, North York, Richmond Hill, and Markham. You can also find them in gift shops throughout Toronto’s downtown and east-end Chinatowns.

Take a deeper dive into Lunar New Year 2026 traditions

The Lunar New Year spans numerous cultures and is known by different names. In China, it’s also called the Spring Festival or simply the Chinese New Year. The festival is also celebrated in Korea as Seollal, in Vietnam as Tet, in Tibet as Losar, and in Mongolia as Tsagaan Sar.

In many ways, the Lunar New Year is similar to how the Western New Year is celebrated when the clock ticks over to January 1, although instead of following the Gregorian calendar, it follows the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which is based on lunar phases, solar solstices, and equinoxes.

This is why the Lunar New Year is on a different date each year and tied to the new moon between the middle of January and late February. According to the Chinese calendar, there is a cycle of 12 zodiac animals. 2026 is the Year of the Horse, symbolizing energy, independence, movement and decisive action.

Lunar New Year is packed with traditions, but every culture does it differently, and every family follows these customs in their own way. At the core of every celebration are omens of good luck, spending time with family and eating delicious food—all of which you can enjoy in Toronto!

This story has been updated with new details since it was first published in January 2022.