The Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, is a traditional Asian celebration that has been observed in for thousands of years. Every winter, Asian communities around the world ring in the Lunar New Year with carnivals, food, family gatherings, parades and more.

China ushered in the Year of the Snake at midnight (1600 GMT), as the Chinese New Year began for the country of approximately 1.4 billion inhabitants. The New Year's festival, also known as the Spring Festival,

Asian American communities around the U.S. will ring in the Year of the Snake with community carnivals, family gatherings, parades, traditional food, fireworks and other festivities.

While Lunar New Year’s legislatively recognized holiday status in Washington is recent, some local groups have celebrated the holiday for decades. Here’s what’s going on this year.