The Year of the Snake
Published on 1/30/2025
The Lunar New Year, beginning January 29, marks the start of the most important holiday celebrated across East and Southeast Asia. This 15-day festival, concluding with the traditional Lantern Festival, follows the lunar calendar and is known by different names throughout the region—Spring Festival in China, Seollal in Korea, and Tet in Vietnam. Traditionally, families prepare by thoroughly cleaning their homes, decorating with red lanterns and banners for good fortune, and gathering for reunion feasts featuring symbolic foods like dumplings for prosperity and long noodles for longevity.
Today, our East Asian neighbors in Greenbriar celebrate both traditional customs and modern adaptations of these practices. Many families still exchange red envelopes containing money for good luck, honor ancestors, and enjoy special holiday foods, while also incorporating contemporary touches like sending digital greetings and hosting fusion-style New Year gatherings. Public celebrations include colorful dragon and lion dances, firecracker displays, and festive markets filled with traditional goods and decorations.
Here in Fairfax County, we're fortunate to have neighbors from China, Korea, Vietnam, and other Asian countries who have enriched our community with their cultural traditions, making Greenbriar a more vibrant and diverse place to live. As the Year of the Snake begins, we extend warm wishes to all our neighbors celebrating this important holiday.