October 29, 2026

Lunar New Year party ideas: food, luck and invitation wording

How to host a Lunar New Year party: the date, red and gold for luck, dumplings and other lucky foods, red envelopes, games, and invitation wording to borrow.

Lunar New Year is celebrated across China, Vietnam (as Tết), Korea (as Seollal) and many other places, each with its own customs. A party for it is about family, food that brings luck for the year ahead, and plenty of red. Here’s how to host one, whether it’s a family reunion dinner or a potluck for friends.

Pick the date

Lunar New Year falls on the new moon between late January and mid-February, and the celebration traditionally runs for fifteen days, ending with the Lantern Festival. The big family meal is on New Year’s Eve, the night before. For a party with friends, any evening in the first two weeks works, and a weekend is easiest.

Each year belongs to one of twelve zodiac animals. Look up the coming year’s animal and put it on the invitation and the cake.

Colors and decorations

Red is the color of luck and celebration, and gold stands for wealth. Decorate with:

red paper lanterns and strings of lights;
paper-cut window designs and couplets (red banners with good wishes);
bowls of tangerines and oranges, whose names sound like “luck” and “gold”;
blossoming branches, like plum blossoms, or the peach and apricot blossoms of a Tết table;
the zodiac animal of the year.

The number four sounds like the word for death in several languages, so many families avoid it: no sets of four, and no table number four.

Lucky foods

Many dishes are eaten for what their names sound like or what they look like:

Dumplings, shaped like old silver ingots, for wealth. A dumpling-folding station is a great party activity.
A whole fish, for abundance, often with a little left over to carry into the new year.
Long noodles, uncut, for a long life.
Spring rolls, like gold bars.
Nian gao, sticky rice cake, for rising higher each year.
Tangerines and oranges, for luck and wealth.
For Tết, bánh chưng (square sticky rice cakes); for Seollal, tteokguk (rice cake soup), which marks everyone a year older.

For a potluck, assign the lucky foods so the table has a little of each.

Red envelopes

Red envelopes (hongbao in Mandarin, lì xì in Vietnamese) hold money for children and unmarried young people, given by married adults. For a party with friends, small red envelopes with a chocolate coin or a crisp dollar bill are a sweet favor. Use new bills, and amounts that avoid the number four.

Games and activities

Dumpling folding, with a prize for the best-looking and the funniest.
Calligraphy or paper-cutting, for kids and adults.
A zodiac game: guests find their animal by birth year and read their fortune for the year.
Lantern riddles, a Lantern Festival tradition: riddles hung on lanterns for guests to solve.
Card and tile games that families play together through the holiday.

Invitation wording

Swap in the year, the names and the details.

Happy Lunar New Year! Join us for dumplings, lanterns and good luck in the Year of the [Animal], [day], [date] at [time].

Ring in the new year with us: a reunion dinner at the [Last name] home, [date], [time].

Red and gold, dumplings and dessert. Celebrate Lunar New Year at a potluck on [date] at [place].

Chúc mừng năm mới! Join us to celebrate Tết, [date] at [time].

New moon, new year, new luck. Come fold dumplings with us on [date].

Lines for the practical parts

What to wear: “Wear red for luck!”
Potluck: “Bring a lucky dish to share. We’ll send the list.”
Kids: “Kids welcome, and there will be red envelopes.”
Shoes: “We’re a shoes-off home; slippers provided.”

Welcoming everyone

Not every guest will know the customs. A line on the invitation (“We’ll fold dumplings and share the stories behind the lucky foods”) tells them what to expect, and a guest who doesn’t celebrate is usually thrilled to learn. If your family celebrates as Tết or Seollal, say so: the customs differ, and guests will enjoy hearing which ones are yours.

How letsparty helps

letsparty has designs for Lunar New Year, with lanterns, blossoms and tangerines. A food sign-up keeps the lucky dishes balanced, and Your year reminds you a few weeks ahead each year, since the date moves.

A quick checklist

Look up the date and the year’s animal.
Send invitations two to three weeks before.
Plan the lucky foods, or assign them for a potluck.
Decorate in red and gold, and skip the fours.
Fill red envelopes with new bills or chocolate coins.
Set up the dumpling station.