CONFIRMED: Disney's Lunar New Year Festival Just Opened Early

It’s officially time for the 2026 Lunar New Year Festival in Disney California Adventure, and we’re here to give you all the details, plus our best tips and advice on how to tackle it.

This year’s festival runs from January 23rd through February 22nd, but we just visited California Adventure and the festival has opened early. We’re here trying out all the food and drinks, as well as seeing all the entertainment, so join us as we head on into the festival.

The Lunar New Year Festival celebrates Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese culture, and we’re always excited for it because it’s one of our favorite underrated Disney events. Plus, the food and drinks are SO good.

Celebration Guide

When you arrive at the festival, be sure to pick up a Celebration Guide. This is your guide to everything going on during the festival. It also has a map of every food booth with each booth’s menus, where to find entertainment, and more.

Note that you can also find a lot of this info. in the Disneyland app.

Sip and Savor Pass

If you want to make the most out of trying out a lot of the food and drinks at the food booths, you may want to consider purchasing a Sip and Savor Pass. It gives you six digital coupons that can be redeemed for food and non-alcoholic beverage items at the food booths.

This pass is worth it, especially if you’ll be visiting the festival on multiple days.

Marketplaces

You’ll be able to check out food at 6 marketplaces, as well as at select restaurants throughout the park.

We’re already eating our way around the festival

We’ll be checking out a lot of the new items for this year’s festival, so be sure to keep following us for the reviews.

Entertainment

The festival also brings some unique entertainment to California Adventure, including Mulan’s New Year Procession, which features music and costumed performers doing traditional Chinese dances. The procession also features appearances by Mulan, Mushu, and other Disney characters. There’s also a special Chinese dragon. At night, you won’t want to miss Hurry Home — A Lunar New Year Celebration. This pre-show accompanies World of Color — One during the festival.

You’ll also find stations throughout the park with arts and crafts activities.

Special Meet and Greets

You’ll also be able to attend special meet and greets with characters. We haven’t seen any special characters yet, but their photo op areas are all set up!

Merchandise

The festival also features special merchandise. We’ll be checking out all the merchandise in a bit, so you’ll want to check back with us to see what’s available.

We’ll be checking out everything at the festival, so keep checking back with us to get all the details and updates.