Began February 17, 2026 · 354 days long
2026: year of the Fire Horse
The Horse year started on February 17, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 2026 before that date is a Snake.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 17, 2026 12:01 PM UTC
- In Beijing
- 8:01 PM Tue, Feb 17 · sets the date
- Year of the Horse
- 354 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Feb 6, 2027 3:56 PM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 2026: the new moon in your city
The Fire Horse year opened with the new moon at 12:01 PM UTC on February 17, 2026 — 8:01 PM on February 17 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 7:01 AM on February 17 in New York, 12:01 PM on February 17 in London and 11:01 PM on February 17 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Tue, Feb 17, 2026 |
| Honolulu United States | 2:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 3:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−9 |
| Los Angeles United States | 4:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 5:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 5:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 6:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 6:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 7:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 7:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 7:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 7:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 8:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 9:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 9:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 9:01 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 12:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 12:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 1:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 1:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 1:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 2:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 2:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 2:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 3:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+3 |
| Moscow Russia | 3:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 3:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 3:31 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 4:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 5:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 5:31 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 5:46 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 6:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 7:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 7:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 8:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 8:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 8:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 8:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 9:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 9:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 10:31 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 10:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 11:01 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2026 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 1:01 AM Wed, Feb 18, 2026 · UTC+13 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 2026 date as in the Hong Kong Observatory calendar. Local times: IANA time zones, to the minute.
18 pages · printable
The 2027 Sky Calendar — free PDF
Every retrograde, eclipse, new and full moon of 2027 to the minute, already converted to your city. A month to a page, ready to print.
Personality
The Fire Horse personality
Anyone born from February 17, 2026 through February 5, 2027 is a Fire Horse: the yang fire stem 丙 over the 午 branch.
Fire is already the Horse's own element, so here it is doubled and everything typical of the sign runs at full strength. Of the five Horses this is the most independent, and the least inclined to compromise.
Stem and branch
2026 is 丙午 (Bǐngwǔ)
Na yin — the sounding element
Water of the Heavenly River 天河水
Rain, and the Milky Way seen as a river in the sky. Traditionally the most generous water image — nourishment that falls on everyone, unowned and far-reaching.
2026 therefore carries fire from its stem and water from its na yin. What na yin is →
Li Chun inside the year
An ordinary single-spring year
The two Li Chun dates around it are February 4, 2026 and February 4, 2027, Beijing time. The Horse year spans February 17, 2026 to February 5, 2027, so exactly one of them sits inside it. What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 2026 Horse
The 午 branch puts a 2026 Horse opposite the Rat on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Rat year after it is 2032. Its harmony partner is the Goat, whose year follows straight after, in 2027. How the Horse and Rat get on →
If you were born in 2026
- Born January 1 – February 16, 2026: a Wood Snake, the animal of 2025.
- Born February 17, 2026 or later in the year: a Fire Horse.
This is one of the late new years: 47 days, from New Year's Day to February 16, still belong to the Snake. That is about one US birth in 8 (12.5%, SSA records 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Horse across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Horse.
The lunar calendar of 2026
Why 354 days, and not 365
No leap month this time: from February 17, 2026 to February 5, 2027, 2026 runs twelve months, six of 30 days and six of 29 — 354 days.
The 30-day months are the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th, 10th and 11th. Three 30-day months run back to back, from month 9 to month 11.
Festival dates in the 2026 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Tue, Mar 3, 2026 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Fri, Jun 19, 2026 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Wed, Aug 19, 2026 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Thu, Aug 27, 2026 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Fri, Sep 25, 2026 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Sun, Oct 18, 2026 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Tue, Dec 22, 2026 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Fri, Jan 15, 2027 |
At the Lantern Festival on March 3 the year's first full moon came that same day, at 7:37 PM Beijing time. The true full moon came two days after the Mid-Autumn Festival, at 12:49 AM Beijing time on September 27 — lunar day 17.
Dates follow Beijing time (UTC+8), the reference clock of the Chinese calendar. Why lunar years differ in length →
Lunar years around 2026
Lengths differ because a leap month is inserted every two or three years. This is what makes the new year date jump rather than drift.
Only seven of the 110 new years in the table fall later in the calendar than February 17. Four other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 2014 began on January 31 — marked in lavender with the other Horse years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 2026: Zodiac Year of the Fire Horse.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/2026/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 2026: Zodiac Year of the Fire Horse |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/2026/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}