New Year's Day
Time: January 1
All hotels, discos and bars in Macau are crowded with people gathering to celebrate this important day. At night, fireworks are set off over the Nam Van Lake to celebrate the arrival of the new year. For those who love to party, you can join the New Year's Eve party in the square, counting down with the crowd as it nears zero hour and zero minutes, and stepping into the New Year amidst the sound of cheers.
Lunar New Year
Time: Late January or early February
Have you ever wanted to set off firecrackers, stroll down the streets, and pay your respects on the first day of the Lunar New Year, in a place full of churches, forts, and European-style buildings? This is not a dreamland, this is the Lunar New Year in Macau. The main streets and squares of Macau are decorated with lights and flowers, making this small city full of continental style full of joyful New Year atmosphere.
After midnight on New Year's Eve, the A-Ma Temple and the Kwun Yum Temple are crowded with worshippers until dawn. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, people are excited to pay their respects to friends and relatives and give each other red packets, even the native Portuguese. In the streets and squares of the city center, there are all kinds of New Year's celebrations, such as dragon dances, lion dances, music and dance performances, and so on.
The Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar is another highlight of the Lunar New Year, and is also the Chinese Valentine's Day. On the night of the Lantern Festival, besides viewing lanterns and guessing riddles, people also eat soup dumplings as they symbolize family reunion and a happy life.
Land Festival
Time: The second day of the second month of the lunar calendar
Land Festival is celebrated in Macau on the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar. The people of Macao have a strong belief in the God of the Earth, and not only are there statues of the God of the Earth in many shops and houses, but there are also many temples to the God of the Earth. In the past, on the occasion of the festival, apart from making offerings at home, the faithful would also go to the temple in groups, accompanied by lion dancers, to pay homage to the God of the Earth.
Nowadays, it is the kaifongs living in the area of Chuk Tsai Yuen who celebrate the birth of the God of the Earth by offering golden pigs to the gods, inviting opera troupes to stage performances of the God of the Earth, and organizing Cantonese Opera evenings, and so on.
Easter
Time: March or April
Easter commemorates the life of Jesus Christ, who gave his life for mankind and rose again later. This feast is very important to the local Catholic community. It is commemorated and celebrated in three days, from the Passion of the Christ (Friday), the Saturday of Holy Week to Resurrection Sunday (Sunday). During these three days, celebratory Masses are celebrated in all the parish churches of Macau. Some of these traditional ceremonies are not common in neighboring regions, so many Catholics come from Hong Kong to Macau to participate in the commemorations.
Qingming Festival
Time: April
One of the 24 Chinese solar terms. It is commonly known as "Treading Green" and "Worshipping the Mountain" in Macao and other places. Many Macao residents go to their graves on Ching Ming Day. According to tradition, people bring roasted suckling pig, flowers, fruits and other food to the graves of their ancestors.
Tomb-sweeping includes rituals such as trekking, repairing graves, planting willows, arranging offerings, burning paper money and worshipping ancestors. These ceremonies are now rare in many cities. In Macau, the busy city life has not diluted the fine tradition of paying respect to the ancestors, and people use this festival to express their filial piety to the ancestors.