The Spring Festival is a traditional Chinese celebration of renewal – of coming light, longer days, and the joy of making it through the winter together. It’s a time when nature warms and awakens, and so do we shake off the stillness and cold to welcome movement, growth, and connection once again. It begins each year on the Lunar New Year which takes place on the first new moon that appears between January 21 and February 20, and ends on the following full moon. In 2026, the Lunar New Year is February 17.
The Spring Festival is also a time to celebrate our loved ones, ancestors, and the spirit of shared community. It’s an expression of gratitude to those who came before, the land that provides, and the unseen forces that guide renewal, balance and unity. Spiritually, the festival marks a turning of the cosmic wheel when yin (winter’s stillness) gives way to yang (spring’s life-force). It reminds us that rebirth always follows rest, and light always follows shadow.
The Lantern Festival, held on the first full moon of the Lunar Year New and final night of the Spring Festival, illuminates this truth. The lanterns symbolize guidance and the soul’s light shining through darkness. In many traditions, releasing or lighting a lantern represents letting go of the past self, releasing burdens, and inviting transformation for the year ahead. Most lanterns are red, the color of vitality, joy, and good fortune that blesses both the living and the ancestral spirits who walk beside us. As lanterns rise or glow, they are said to carry our wishes to heaven, reconnecting earth and sky, human and divine.
Beyond all, the Spring Festival celebrates our ability to endure, adapt and begin again, together.
Chinese New Year Dinner • February 14th • At Cloudview Kitchen • Ticketed and catered event, reservations required • Live Entertainment • RED PARTY dance party after dinner, no tickets required. Must wear red! More information: facebook.com/cloudviewsoaplake • instagram.com/cloudviewkitchen
Sunset Lantern Festival • February 21st • At Soap Lake Natural Spa and Resort • Ticketed event includes Mooncakes* and lanterns, dragon dancers, traditional music, local vendors and more. Lanterns will be flown and floated at sunset in honor of letting go of what doesn’t serve us and honoring those that came before us.
Mooncakes
*Mooncakes are a traditional Chinese food made from humble, grounding ingredients like roots and beans; foods that carry us from autumn harvests through winter. Most notably connected to the Mid-Autumn Festival, they are a meaningful pairing for any lunar celebration. This year, Cloudview Kitchen will make taro and sweet potato Mooncakes for the evening of the Lantern Festival, honoring both the earth’s nourishment and the cycles that sustain us.
These celebrations are brought to you by the Soap Lake Chamber of Commerce, Cloudview Kitchen and Soap Lake Natural Spa and Resort.
