Lunar New Year festivals and prayers marked the start of the Year of the Snake around Asia and farther afield on Wednesday.

Lunar New Year is one of the biggest celebrations of the year for those of Asian heritage, involving family gatherings, lion dances, fireworks and for children, the exchange of red envelopes stuffed with cash.

Communities across the world begin celebrating Lunar New Year on Jan. 29 — and 2025 marks the Year of the Snake.

Among China’s traditional holidays and celebrations, none ranks higher in importance than the Lunar New Year (農曆新年). Also known as the Spring Festival (春節), or simply Chinese New Year, it marks the beginning of the year according to the traditional lunar calendar.

Lunar New Year, or Tết Nguyên Đán (Tết), is Vietnam's most important celebration - a time to honour ancestors, cherish family, and welcome new beginnings.This year, it lasts from 28 to 31 January.

Firecrackers echoed through the streets, temple incense filled the air, and dancers and drummers paraded as millions across Asia and beyond celebrated the Lunar

From Beijing to Hanoi and Moscow, the holiday — known as the Spring Festival in China, Tet in Vietnam and Seollal in Korea — is a major festival celebrated by diaspora communities around the world. Wednesday marks the start of the Year of the Snake, one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac.

Asian American communities around the U.S. and around the world are ringing in the Year of the Snake Wednesday, including in New York City. The Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival,

More than a billion people across the world, from China to the Philippines to diaspora communities in the United States, began celebrating the Lunar New Year on Tuesday with fireworks, family time and feasts. On Wednesday, the first new moon of the Year of the Snake will mark the imminent arrival of spring.

Lion dance is performed at a park in Beijing on Jan. 29, 2025, the first day of the Year of the Snake amid Lunar Year celebrations.

Those born in 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013 and 2025 are said to be wise and charming, but also mysterious and cunning.