On January 29th – the date of the actual lunar new year! Celebrations occur in Stormwind, Thunder Bluff, Booty Bay and Moonglade.
On February 13th, one last firework show will be held in Moonglade. This parallels the Chinese "Festival of Lanterns"; extra lanterns are spawned around Lake Elune'ara (the firework show occurs over the lake).
Decorations will be placed in every capital as well as in the regions of Nighthaven and Moonglade. Revelers celebrating the Lunar New Year will be spread throughout the world (the revelers are concentrated in Moonglade, except for those that show up for the fireworks shows in Stormwind/Thunder Bluff/Booty Bay); the lunar festival specific NPCs can be found in each capital and in Moonglade. There are also other NPCs - spread throughout the world – which are ghost-like elders that players must find and honor, as noted below.
The World of Warcraft Lunar New Year events will focus on the celebration of the inhabitants of Azeroth's ancestors. Quests can be found throughout the world offering holiday-related items such as fireworks and other memorabilia to celebrate one's elders and ancestors. A number of Elder Ghosts can also be found throughout the world of Azeroth and each time a player finds a new Elder, he or she will receive a token that can be redeemed for special holiday related items
Some holiday Items that players may recognize from the real world's Chinese New Year include:
- A variety of rockets and fireworks
- Festival Dumplings
- Costumes that depict festive Lunar holiday dresses and suits in a variety of colors besides red
- Recipes that will allow players to create red Lunar holiday clothing
- A special red lockbox with a surprise inside (Inspired by the "Hong Bao" that is given during Chinese New Year)
- And much more!
Finally, there will be a large raid encounter boss that only appears during this time of year named Omen. Omen's appearance is closely liked to the Lunar New Year and new players will be excited to hear that this will be the only raid encounter where newbies will be able to participate fighting a raid style boss! Omen is inspired by the tale of "Nian" from Chinese lore. In the Chinese version of WoW the boss' name will be left as Nian.