Business Enquiries: https://www.business.thebluecats.com.sg/ The Blue Cats' Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/singaporethebluecats/ In 2025, the Hungry Ghost Festival will be on 6 September, which is later than usual. Normally, Ghost Month starts in late July or early August because it follows the Lunar Calendar, which is generally about a month behind the Gregorian calendar. For example, the Lunar New Year in 2025 is on 29 January, so many would expect the seventh lunar month to start around end-July. However, it begins on 23 August this year. The main reason lies in how leap years and calendar adjustments work. The Gregorian calendar, which is based on the solar year, adds a leap day every four years to account for the extra 0.25 days it takes Earth to orbit the sun, keeping the calendar accurate over time. While the Gregorian calendar follows the sun, the Lunar calendar tracks the moon’s cycle, with each month lasting about 29.53 days. This means a lunar year has only around 354 days, which is 11 days shorter than the solar year. If left unadjusted, over time festivals like Chinese New Year could drift into entirely different seasons. However, in reality, the “Lunar Calendar” used in Chinese traditions is actually the Lunisolar calendar. This system combines both lunar months and solar year alignment to keep important dates consistent with the seasons. The Lunisolar calendar works by adding an extra month approximately every two to three years to make up for the missing 11 days each year. This is somewhat similar to how the Gregorian calendar adds one leap day every four years. In 2025, there are two sixth months in the Lunisolar calendar, which causes the seventh month (Ghost Month) to start later than usual. A similar adjustment happened in 2023, when there were two second months, pushing the start of Ghost Month to mid-August. These periodic adjustments ensure that festivals and traditional dates remain aligned with seasonal patterns. As a result of these adjustments, the Lunar New Year in 2026 will fall later than usual, on 17 February. This pattern shows how the Lunisolar calendar carefully balances moon cycles with the solar year to prevent major seasonal shifts in traditional events. It is a centuries-old solution to keep cultural celebrations aligned with both astronomical and seasonal realities, even if it means that some years, like 2025, will have noticeably later festival dates.