Rare global alignment sees Lunar New Year, Lent and Ramadan begin within 48 hours |19 February 2026

Rare global alignment sees Lunar New Year, Lent and Ramadan begin within 48 hours

By Sunny Esparon

In what commentators are calling a remarkable calendrical coincidence, three major cultural and religious observances – Lunar New Year, Lent, and Ramadan – have all begun within a 48-hour window this week.

Lunar New Year, celebrated widely across East and Southeast Asia and by diaspora communities worldwide, commenced on Tuesday, February 17, with the first new moon of the lunar calendar. Ash Wednesday, marking the start of Lent for Christians, was observed yesterday, ushering in 40 days of fasting and reflection before Easter. Meanwhile, Muslim communities confirmed the sighting on Tuesday, February 17 of the crescent moon that signals the beginning of Ramadan, with fasting starting yesterday, February 18.

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