Lunar Festival

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Lunar Festival
Lunar Festival.jpg
Duration January 29 – February 11 (2025)
Currency  [Coin of Ancestry]
Boss Mob Omen
Highlights Omen
Elders
Fireworks
Other events
Preceded by Love is in the Air
(concurrent)
Followed by Noblegarden

The Lunar Festival is a time of celebration. The people of Azeroth celebrate their triumph of many thousands of years ago when an alliance of good races (the night elves, tauren, furbolgs, and earthen) defeated a terrible evil called the Burning Legion. It is also a time of remembrance for the valor and wisdom of that ancient age.

Today, the Lunar Festival is held by the druids of Nighthaven. Both the Horde and Alliance are welcome to celebrate and shoot fireworks — a symbol of Elune's power. Ancient heroes of the past also appear throughout the land, offering gifts to those who find and honor them.

It is a time of happiness, fortune, and celebration, but it has a deeper motive as well.

Omen, defeated so many centuries ago, yet remains in Lake Elune'ara. Although driven insane by the Burning Legion, the demigod still possesses Elune's blessing and thus is immortal. During the Lunar Festival, he stirs...and heroes of the land are called to defeat him once again.

For a list of Elder locations and a guide to visiting them all, see Lunar Festival Elders.

New in 2025

Collectables

Toys

There are thirteen Toy Box toys available:

Note: Learning one faction's firework will learn the other automatically.

Pets

There are two pets available for purchase from Valadar Starsong for 50 Coin of Ancestry each:

Only one pet is visible to individual players, but both factions' pets are not soulbound and can be traded or sold on the auction house.

Heirlooms

Cosmetics

Recipes

5 Coin of Ancestry each from Fariel Starsong:

Other

Achievements

Most of the achievements in the table below are required for the meta-achievement,  [To Honor One's Elders], which is itself required for  [What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been]. The "Elders" achievements for expansions past Cataclysm are not required.

Note
Note: This list is up to date as of Patch 11.1.5
Title Description Rewards
 [Elders of Eastern Kingdoms] Honor the Elders which are located in Eastern Kingdoms.
 10 Achievement points
 [A Coin of Ancestry] Receive a  [Coin of Ancestry]. 10 Achievement points
 [5 Coins of Ancestry] Receive 5  [Coin of Ancestry]. 10 Achievement points
 [10 Coins of Ancestry] Receive 10  [Coin of Ancestry]. 10 Achievement points
 [25 Coins of Ancestry] Receive 25  [Coin of Ancestry]. 10 Achievement points
 [50 Coins of Ancestry] Receive 50  [Coin of Ancestry]. 10 Achievement points
 [Lunar Festival Finery] Purchase a festive pant suit or festive dress with Coins of Ancestry. 10 Achievement points
 [The Rocket's Red Glare] Shoot off 10  [Red Rocket Cluster] in 25 seconds or less. 10 Achievement points
 [Frenzied Firecracker] Shoot off 10 Festival Firecrackers in 30 seconds or less. 10 Achievement points
 [Elune's Blessing] Complete the Elune's Blessing quest by defeating Omen. 10 Achievement points
 [Elders of Cataclysm] Honor the Elders in the zones opened by the Cataclysm.
 10 Achievement points
 [Elders of the Dungeons] Honor the Elders which are located inside the dungeons.
 10 Achievement points
 [Elders of the Alliance] Honor the Elders which are located in the Alliance capital cities.
 10 Achievement points
 [Elders of the Horde] Honor the Elders which are located in the Horde capital cities.
 10 Achievement points
 [Elders of the Dragon Isles] Honor the Elders which are located in the Dragon Isles.
 10 Achievement points
 [Elders of Khaz Algar] Honor the Elders and Archivists which are located in Khaz Algar.
 10 Achievement points
 [Elders of Kalimdor] Honor the Elders which are located in Kalimdor.
 10 Achievement points
 [Elders of Northrend] Honor the Elders which are located in Northrend.
 10 Achievement points

Details

Decorations are 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 — that are ghost-like elders who players must find and honor, as noted below.

Lunar Festival events 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. Elder Ghosts are found throughout the world of Azeroth and each time players finds a new Elder, they receive a token that can be redeemed for special holiday-related items.

Dates

It appears that Blizzard moves the dates of this event to conform to the real-life Chinese Lunar New Year on which this festival is based.

Year Lunar New Year date[1] Lunar Festival dates
2006 January 29 January 27 – February 14
2007 February 18 February 16 – March 8
2008 February 7 February 5 – 23
2009 January 26 January 24 – February 12
2010 February 14 February 14 – March 7
2011 February 3 January 23 – February 12
2012 January 23 January 22 - February 11
2013 February 10 January 27 - February 9
2014 January 31 January 20 - February 3
2015 February 19 February 16 - March 2
2016 February 8 February 1 - February 15
2017 January 29 January 21 - February 4
2018 February 16 February 17 - March 3
2019 February 5 January 28 - February 11
2020 January 25 January 24 - February 7
2021 February 12 February 5 - February 19
2022 February 1 January 30 - February 13
2023 January 22 January 24 - February 7
2024 February 10 February 3 - February 17
2025 January 29 January 28 - February 11

Mini-events

  • On the date of the actual lunar New Year, celebrations occur in Stormwind, Thunder Bluff, Booty Bay and Moonglade.
  • On the last day of the festival, one last firework show will be held in Moonglade. This parallels the Chinese "Festival of Lanterns", with extra lanterns spawned around Lake Elune'ara (the firework show occurs over the lake).

Items

Some holiday items that relate to the Chinese New Year include:

  • Various 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, and others to create a variety of rockets and launchers.
  •  [Lucky Red Envelope]s with surprises inside, inspired by the red packets given during Chinese New Year
  • The  [Elune's Candle] contains 88 charges, which according to Chinese tradition would be lucky. This is also related to the red packets.[citation needed]

Outdoor Raid

Finally, there is Omen, a high-level boss that spawns in Moonglade during the festival, giving players a chance to experience a raid-style encounter that only appears during this time of year. Entering the moonlight that shines on his corpse grants  [Elune's Blessing], a 1-hour combat buff. N [1-80R] Elune's Blessing asks players to defeat him and awards  [Elune's Blessing], although merely gaining the buff by running through the moonlight is sufficient to achieve these if another group has already killed him.

Omen is inspired by the tale of "Nian" from Chinese lore. In the Chinese version of WoW, Omen's name is left as Nian.

Rewards

 [Coin of Ancestry] is the main currency for the Lunar Festival, although a few items can be purchased for gold (or copper). 100 coins from Lunar Festival Elders can be acquired per character each year, or 92 without The War Within. An additional 25 coins can be obtained by each character for completing N [1-80] Lunar Preservation.

Lunar Festival Vendors in capital cities sell the following items:

Lunar Festival Vendor
Item Cost Type
 [Lunar Launcher] 75 Coin of Ancestry Mount
 [Winding Slitherdrake: Lunar Festival Armor] 50,000g Drakewatcher manuscript
 [Moonglow] 15c Alcohol
 [Festival Firecracker] 3s Firework
 [Small Blue Rocket] 25c Firework
 [Small Green Rocket] 25c Firework
 [Small Red Rocket] 25c Firework
 [Blue Rocket Cluster] 1s Firework
 [Green Rocket Cluster] 1s Firework
 [Red Rocket Cluster] 1s Firework

At Nighthaven, Valadar Starsong and Fariel Starsong sell additional items.

Quests

The bulk of the holiday's quests are simple one-shots given and completed at Lunar Festival Elders scattered around the world. In addition, a short chain of quests that awards a  [Lunar Festival Invitation] leads celebrants from any major city to Moonglade. The end of this initial chain directs characters to a platform in the northeast corner of Nighthaven where the primary Lunar Festival NPCs reside and offer the remaining quests.

Traveling the world is a noticeable theme for Lunar Festival questing, given the varied locations of the Elders and the multiple locations that must be visited for the N [1-80] Lunar Preservation quest chain.

All quests for this holiday are annual: Any quests completed in a previous year will once again become available when the holiday begins again.

Elders

Main article: Lunar Festival Elders

Each of the Elders around the world bears a quest with their own name, which can be completed immediately simply by speaking to them and have no prerequisites or follow-ups. They each award a  [Coin of Ancestry] and a  [Lucky Red Envelope], the latter of which contains either a  [Lucky Rocket Cluster] or an  [Elder's Moonstone]. The Elder quests also give 75 (originally 50) main faction reputation (no Cenarion Circle reputation), capped 1 point below Honored. This means +75 to each faction race that is not already Honored or above.

The Elders stand in circles of light, and give tips as to where to find other nearby Elders. Elders in locations associated with the opposing faction may be difficult to get to, including Elders in enemy capitals, but also several next to smaller towns' flight masters or guards. However, these Elders still offer their quests to any characters who can survive the time it takes to speak to them.

Moonglade lead-in quests

  1. "The Lunar Festival", from the heralds or emissaries in the cities, direct characters to the city's harbinger.
  2. N [1-80] Lunar Fireworks, from the harbinger in any city, introduces the use of fireworks activated with launchers. It rewards 150 Cenarion Circle reputation as well as the  [Lunar Festival Invitation] allowing teleportation to Moonglade from any city's greater moonlight circle.
  3. N [1-80] Valadar Starsong sends celebrants to teleport to Moonglade to find the holiday NPCs in Nighthaven.

Moonglade has a hill with more circles of moonlight for each city, through which they can teleport to that city by re-using the Invitation. Though the Invitation has a 10-minute cooldown, this provides a convenient way to move from city to city for the duration of the festival - see the Travel Guide. This is also the easiest way to unlock the Moonglade flight point for lower level characters, although the sharing of known flight points within warbands has made this concern mostly obsolete.

Lunar Preservation

N [1-80] Lunar Preservation sends adventurers from Nighthaven to visit most of the moonwells around Kalimdor as well as Duskwood to empower a druidic staff. The world travel aspect of the quest mirrors the process of visiting Lunar Festival Elders, and it is the only quest that awards holiday currency aside from the Elders. Completing Lunar Preservation unlocks four additional travel-based quests which make the holiday crowns transmoggable throughout the year.

  1. N [1-80] Lunar Preservation
    • The 25x  [Coin of Ancestry] reward is quite reasonable, and efficiency can be improved further by visiting Elders along the way to each objective.
  2. Any of:

Raid

N [1-80R] Elune's Blessing requires gaining  [Elune's Blessing] from the defeat of Omen, although it can be gained without actually participating in the kill. The quest is not required to gain or re-gain the 30-minute buff. However, it does reward  [Elune's Lantern], 3  [Solid Stone] (fuel for the Lantern), a box of fireworks, 100 Cenarion Circle reputation, and the  [Elune's Blessing] achievement.

Official Summary

Lunar Festival

Lunar Festival 11.jpg
Every year the druids of Moonglade hold a celebration of their city's great triumph over an ancient evil. During the Lunar Festival, citizens of Azeroth have the opportunity to honor their elders by celebrating their sage wisdom, sharing in magnificent feasts, and of course...shooting fireworks!

Features

Type: Holiday Event
Location: All Major Cities, Booty Bay, Moonglade

Omen

Lunar Festival 2.jpg
The beast of Omen was once a hero of this world. A wolf of great strength and fortune, Omen fought beside the heroes of the War of the Ancients until he succumbed to demonic magics. Turning against his allies, he raged across Azeroth and carried death and terror in his wake. Finally defeated in Moonglade, Omen now sleeps among the silt of Lake Elune'ara. But each new year, during the festival, he stirs...

Elders

Lunar Festival 3.jpg
During the Lunar Festival, adventurers will have the opportunity to honor many of their elders, and by doing so, they will also honor their culture and their people. For this, the Coins of Ancestry serve as a tangible means to recognize those who have chosen the venerable path of respect. Those who are recognized thus will have their diligence rewarded with a selection of unique items.

Fireworks

Lunar Festival 4.jpg
The innovative and artistic engineers of Undermine have been slaving away since their display of pyrotechnics in July. Their latest and greatest - not to mention highly dangerous to operate - creations will be on display in the cities of the world every hour after sunset. Keep your eyes to the skies, and be sure to stick around for the finale!

Revelers, All

Lunar Festival 5.jpg
Many soldiers formerly abroad have come home to engage in the festivities. Share in the merriment and dance with the revelers, or, if you're so inclined, blow a kiss to one that catches your eye. It's all in fun, after all; they appreciate the attention!
Festival Outfits To help celebrate the festivities, a selection of unique clothing become available to adventurers. Such outfits have been worn in times past during the Lunar Festival and each is hand-crafted with only the finest soft fabrics and other quality components.

History

The Lunar Festival is a time of celebration. The peoples of Azeroth celebrate their triumph of many thousands of years ago, when an alliance of good races (Night Elves, Tauren, and Earthen - a proto-dwarven race) defeated a terrible evil. It is also a time of remembrance for the valor and wisdom of that ancient age.
The demi-god Omen was a being of great strength and knowledge. Blessed by Elune, Omen wandered primordial Kalimdor, guiding hunters and gatherers and offering luck and advice to all he met. When the Burning Legion launched their attack, Omen allied with Azeroth's defenders. He fought bravely but after many battles his wounds from demonic forces plunged Omen into a deep, dreaming sleep...where fel-inspired nightmares slowly consumed him. When he finally awoke, centuries later, he had fallen to madness.
The transformed Omen rampaged. No longer a creature of wisdom - but still possessing the strength of Elune's blessing - he tore through the land, killing and devouring. Terror rode before him, and death trailed in his wake.
Omen's spree of horror ended when a coterie of ancient heroes gathered in the village of Nighthaven and faced the beast. They called down the moon's wrath and Omen, blinded and stunned by the power of the moon goddess, fled into the deep waters of Lake Elune'ara. That day marked the end of his rampage, and symbolized a new beginning for the people of Azeroth and the followers of Elune.
Today, the Lunar Festival is held by the druids of Nighthaven. Both the Horde and Alliance are welcomed to celebrate and shoot fireworks - a symbol of Elune's power. Ancient heroes of the past also appear throughout the land, offering gifts to those who find and honor them.
It is a time of happiness and fortune and celebration, but it has a deeper motive as well...
Omen, defeated so many centuries ago, yet remains in Lake Elune'ara. Although driven insane by the Burning Legion, the demi-god still possesses Elune's blessing and is, hence, immortal. During the Lunar Festival, he stirs...and heroes of the land are called to defeat him once again.

Gallery

Patch changes

References

 
  1. ^ Chinese New Year Calendar. chinesenewyears.info.

External links

World of Warcraft Community Site World of Warcraft Community Site Lunar Festival
External link WoWcore.nl Dutch / Nederlandse Lunar Festival Achievement Guide
External link Icy Veins Lunar Festival 2012 Guide
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