It’s the Year of the Horse!
HNY! Or should I say… welcome to the Year of the Fire Horse. Yes, officially it starts February 3, 2026 (Li Chun, the first solar term of spring, in case you were wondering). Not January 1, not even the Lunar New Year on February 17 (a.k.a. today). Astrology, as always, comes with its own rules. Anyway, the Fire Horse is a very big deal. Horses symbolize strength, perseverance, and aspiration. Basically, it’s a year for starting things you’ve been thinking about for six years but now actually doing them. Which, fine, sounds like a lot, but also sort of comforting when imposed cosmically? Especially if you spent last year shedding your own metaphorical snake skin and still feel like you owe yourself some wins.
So what does this mean for you? Reflect and plan – The Horse Year asks for action and honesty. Make a list, start a habit, finally email that person, take that course, move that idea forward. And – if you’re more in the celebratory mood than the planning mood, here are some events to celebrate, sorted by city.
London:
For something grounding, there’s a herbal tea ceremony and cupping workshop titled Eastern Remedies at Bugeisha Club — a space for women, non-binary and gender-queer people to explore Chinese herbalism, talk about traditional Chinese medicine (and the discourse around it), and leave with good Qi, a custom tea blend, and those unmistakable circular badges of honour on your back. All proceeds go to Refugee Action, so your healing arc doubles as community care.
Or, if you feel action feels best expressed through food, BAO’s limited-edition Dark Horse Set Menu has entered the chat. Built for two, it’s all rapid change and celebratory excess: chilli crab noodles with tempura crab legs, a Prosperity Salmon Salad tossed as high as possible (higher toss, higher fortune), mushroom dumplings shaped like money pouches, a lucky gua bao each, and Taiwanese fried chicken — obviously. Available at all BAO locations until 26 February.
Paris
On Wednesday, start soft at Bing Sutt Paris, the Hong Kong–style café dropping a limited Lunar New Year cookie assortment by Julia Cheung. Think kumquat–apricot kernel thumbprints, malt cacao toffee cookies, and senbei rice cracker treats. Citrus for luck, cacao for indulgence, rice for tradition.
Thursday, head to Boulevard de Belleville for the Lunar New Year Food Market (18:00–22:30), then drift into Bestiaire Domestik at Floreal Belleville (18–22 Feb). The group show feels especially Horse-coded this year: animal silhouettes fragmenting and reappearing, domestic objects slipping toward the wild, the cheval galloping through forms that feel mid-transformation. The vernissage is on the 18th, but the energy lingers all week.
And on Saturday, return to discipline. A Chinese calligraphy workshop at Musée Guimet offers the opposite of rapid change. Before you write anything, you learn how to even hold the brush. If the Horse year asks you to trade excitement for habit, this is where it begins — one stroke at a time.
Amsterdam:
To celebrate the Lunar New Year in Amsterdam, start at No Man’s Art Gallery. They open Bring on the Dancing Horses, a group exhibition marking the Year of the Fire Horse through fragility, softness, and transformation. Think monumentality undone, horses as symbols of passage, works that resist spectacle and stay tender. There’s a reading performance by Bin Koh at 19:00 on opening night; the show runs until April 6.
If you need dinner plans, Café Wu is celebrating its two-year anniversary perfectly in sync with the New Year. Expect an exclusive festive menu, proper New Year dishes, and on Saturday the 21st: a DJ and lychee highballs at their baijiu bar.
At Kriterion, they combine film and dumplings. Four films will be shown that orbit human relationships across generations and geographies: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Raise the Red Lantern, Havoc in Heaven, and Meer dan Babi Pangang (2025). Add Hugh’s homemade dumplings — back by popular demand.
And for those who prefer their renewal loud, RAUM collaborates with Scattered Waves and Eastern Playgrounds for a Lunar New Year night. Dinner, karaoke, a traditional Lion Dance for luck, then a club lineup that carries you through until 05:00. The Horse is freedom, movement, adventure, and RAUM is taking that literally.
Zurich:
Between Sunset and Many Moons — Lunar Ramadan New Year 2026 is a one-day communal gathering at Zentralwäscherei (Sunday 22.2, 14:00–22:00), created in collaboration with Les Complices*. It marks the beginning of both Ramadan and Lunar New Year — two calendars, two cosmologies, meeting in shared time. Expect communal food preparation, short films, karaoke, hands-on activities, and an awareness space with room for prayer or quiet retreat. Around 18:00, the fast is broken collectively, bread shared in the spirit of generosity as day shifts into night.
Berlin
Berlin is keeping it hands-on this Fire Horse year. At Bao Gao Club in Prenzlauer Berg (Schönhauser Allee 103), Lunar New Year comes with a free dumpling-making workshop on the 19th (17:00–21:00). If the Fire Horse is about trading excitement for discipline, this might be your first act of the year. Think of it as prosperity you can literally fold yourself!
Words by Pykel van Latum
