Chinese New Year 2026: Australia Celebrates The Year Of The Fire Horse

17/02/2026

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA — Chinese New Year celebrations are underway across Australia today as the Year of the Fire Horse begins on February 17, 2026. It's a zodiac combination that appears only once every 60 years, with the last Fire Horse year falling in 1966.

The occasion holds growing significance in Australia, where over 1.4 million residents identify as having Chinese ancestry — 5.5% of the total population according to the 2021 Census. China-born residents alone reached a record 700,000 as of June 2024, making it the third largest overseas-born group in the country, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

"The Horse represents courage, momentum and action — it's one of the most exciting signs in the zodiac," says Larita Nicolson, founder of Journey Chinese. "And the Fire element amplifies all of that. It's a year for being bold, which is exactly what it takes to start learning a new language."

With Mandarin now Australia's second most spoken language at home, interest in Chinese language and culture continues to grow. Chinese New Year, or chūnjié (春节), kicks off 15 days of celebrations ending with the Lantern Festival on March 3. Families gather to clean their homes, share reunion dinners, give red envelopes (hóngbāo, 红包), and set off firecrackers to scare away bad luck.

"Food is always at the centre of it," Nicolson adds. "Dumplings for wealth, whole fish for abundance, long noodles for a long life. When people learn why these dishes matter, they start to see that language and culture are the same thing."

The phrase to know this week: xīnnián kuàilè (新年快乐) — Happy New Year.

Media Contact: hello@journeychinese.com.au