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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
May James

Photos follow the color red through public and intimate spaces during the Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year Red Photo Gallery - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

At Lunar New Year, red holds the promise of luck and reunion — a color meant to call people home and carry wishes for the year ahead.

It sits at entrances and lingers along walls. It threads through wishes and wraps around food. In smoke, it lifts and thins into the air.

Across much of Asia — where the festival is known as the Spring Festival, Tet, or Seollal — the new year is marked by rituals long believed to gather people against darkness and draw good fortune near. This year's festival begins the Year of the Horse, one of the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac.

These photographs follow the color red from public celebrations to smaller, everyday spaces.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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