Although traditional festivals are celebrated in many countries throughout the world, China, with its long history and predominantly agricultural society, has a particularly large number of festivals. A life of agricultural labour is a hard one, and thus festivals have always helped to enliven the daily routine and dispel the weariness of the rural folk, despite the fact that this was not exactly their original meaning.

Within Northern Ireland Chinese religions, festivals and traditions are observed in the Chinese community to an extent practicable in overseas Chinese societies.