Celebrate Chinese New Year in Queenstown 2025

Looking for this year's celebrations? Our guide to Chinese New Year 2026 covers the Year of the Fire Horse, what is on in Auckland, and where to mark it in Queenstown. This page looks back at 2025, the Year of the Snake.

Every Chinese New Year has its own animal, its own date and its own story, and 2025 was a good one. Auckland lit up its lantern festival with a giant serpent beside the main stage, and in Queenstown the summer did what it does best. If you are planning a visit for a future new year, Evolve Rentals can have a car ready in either city.

When was Chinese New Year 2025?

Chinese New Year 2025 fell on Wednesday 29 January 2025 and began the Year of the Wood Snake. The celebrations ended on the fifteenth day with the Lantern Festival, on Wednesday 12 February 2025.

The date moves every year because it follows the lunar calendar, landing somewhere between late January and late February. In New Zealand that always puts it in high summer, which is why the celebrations here are so often outdoors and after dark.

What did the Year of the Snake mean?

The Snake is the sixth animal of the Chinese zodiac. Auckland Unlimited, which runs the Auckland Lantern Festival, described the Year of the Snake as a symbol of wisdom and intuition, and of transformation and personal growth. The Wood element that comes with it returns only once every sixty years, so the Wood Snake of 2025 will not come round again until 2085.

How did Auckland celebrate Chinese New Year 2025?

With lanterns, and a great many of them. The BNZ Auckland Lantern Festival ran from 13 to 16 February 2025 at the Manukau Sports Bowl in South Auckland, its first year under the BNZ name. A specially made serpent lantern stood beside the main stage for the Year of the Snake, surrounded by more than 500 handmade lanterns.

There were around 60 food stalls across two food areas, 20 retail stalls, traditional and contemporary performances, and fireworks on the nights of 14, 15 and 16 February. The year before, in 2024, the festival had drawn more than 110,000 people, which makes it the largest cultural festival in the region.

How did the Auckland Lantern Festival begin?

The festival started in 2000 as a one day event in Albert Park, organised by the Asia New Zealand Foundation with Auckland City Council. It grew into a four day event, moved through several venues including the Auckland Domain, and settled at the Manukau Sports Bowl, which can hold more than 100,000 visitors over four days.

It is timed to mark the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations, so it usually falls a week or two after the new year itself, and each year's lanterns are built around that year's zodiac animal.

If you are in Auckland for a future festival, our guide to collecting a car from a hotel lobby in Auckland covers the city collection and the drives worth doing the next day. The festival itself is best reached by public transport.

How was Chinese New Year marked in Queenstown in 2025?

Quietly, and very pleasantly. Late January sits at the peak of the Queenstown summer, with long evenings on the waterfront and busy restaurants, which is exactly when a drive to Glenorchy or Arrowtown is an easy decision.

The region has its own deep link to Chinese New Zealand history. Chinese miners worked the Arrow River during the gold rush, and their restored settlement at the top of Arrowtown's main street is one of the most moving places to visit around Queenstown. Our Arrowtown day trip guide covers the drive there, and the 2026 guide has the full story of the settlement.

Planning for a future Chinese New Year?

Book early. The new year always falls in the busiest weeks of the New Zealand summer, when accommodation, restaurants and cars are all in demand in both cities.

In Queenstown, we bring the car to you. Nobody else in Queenstown does that. In Auckland, you collect it from the Grand Millennium on Mayoral Drive. Whichever animal the year belongs to, book your car with Evolve Rentals early and give yourself the freedom to celebrate properly.

FAQs

When was Chinese New Year 2025?
Wednesday 29 January 2025. It began the Year of the Wood Snake, and the celebrations ended with the Lantern Festival on 12 February 2025.

When was the Auckland Lantern Festival in 2025?
The BNZ Auckland Lantern Festival ran from 13 to 16 February 2025 at the Manukau Sports Bowl, with a giant serpent lantern for the Year of the Snake and fireworks on 14, 15 and 16 February.

When did the Auckland Lantern Festival start?
In 2000, as a one day event in Albert Park organised by the Asia New Zealand Foundation with Auckland City Council. It is now a four day festival at the Manukau Sports Bowl.

When is the next Year of the Wood Snake?
2085. The Chinese zodiac pairs each animal with an element, and each combination returns once every sixty years.