Is Your Factory Closed for Lunar New Year 2027? What Toy Brands Should Plan For in Q1

“Lunar New Year 2027 lands on 6 February, eleven days earlier than in 2026. The holiday lasts about a week. The production gap around it can last longer.”

The short answer: almost every toy factory in Vietnam and China will stop production for at least part of the week around 6 February 2027. How early production slows, how long the factory stays closed and how quickly it gets back to full output differ by country, by region, by factory and by where the factory's materials come from. The only reliable answer for your order is your factory's own calendar, confirmed in writing.

Planning Q1 orders around Lunar New Year? Tell us about your product, volume and target in-store date, and we will help you map a realistic timeline before the holiday sets one for you.

After reading this, you will know when factories in Vietnam and China are likely to slow down, why your materials matter as much as your factory's holiday dates, and which questions to settle with suppliers before the end of the year.

Key Takeaways

• The date moved forward. Lunar New Year 2027 falls on Saturday 6 February in both Vietnam and China, against 17 February in 2026. Pre-holiday cut-offs will arrive earlier than a plan built on last year's calendar assumes.

• Vietnam and China tend to stop differently. In our team's experience, many Vietnamese factory workers keep working until close to New Year's Eve, and after Tet 2026 most workers in Vietnam's main industrial hubs were back within days. In China, the practical disruption is commonly described as four to six weeks once travel and ramp-up are included. Neither pattern is guaranteed for a specific factory.

• An open factory is only half the answer. A Vietnamese factory that relies on imported fabric, resin or components can still wait on suppliers in China that are closed. Confirm material dates alongside factory dates.

Most toy brands sourcing in Asia already plan around Lunar New Year. What makes 2027 worth a second look is the calendar: the holiday arrives early, it overlaps with the busiest trade-fair weeks of the year, and more brands now run production across two countries whose shutdowns do not follow the same pattern. A plan that treats Lunar New Year as one fixed week, or as "the China problem", can miss where the delays actually come from.

This article is for two groups of readers: brands with production already running that want a practical checklist before December, and brands starting a project or choosing a factory who need the holiday built into the timeline from the start.

When Is Lunar New Year 2027, and How Long Are Factories Closed?

Lunar New Year 2027 falls on Saturday 6 February in both Vietnam and China, but the official holiday is only the centre of a longer slowdown.

Lunar New Year, known in Vietnam as Tết Nguyên Đán (Tet) and in China as the Spring Festival, is the most important holiday of the year in both countries. It is a time for family reunions, and for factory workers that often means a long journey home. That is why the effect on production lasts longer than the public holiday itself: the weeks before are spent finishing orders and travelling, and the weeks after are spent getting the workforce back.

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Two details in the 2027 calendar are worth noting. Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg runs from 2 to 6 February, so the fair ends on Lunar New Year's Day. Toy Fair New York runs from 20 to 23 February, when many Chinese factories are still ramping up. Samples and pre-production approvals for either show need to be finished well before mid-January.

Why Factory Shutdowns Look Different in Vietnam and China

The difference comes mostly from workforce geography and supply-chain structure, not from one country being more capable than the other.

China: a deep supply base with a long journey home

Many workers in the coastal manufacturing provinces come from inland provinces, and the trip home can take days each way. In our team's experience, workers in some parts of China start leaving a week or even earlier before the holiday. After it, workers return gradually, some move to new employers, and factories spend part of February and March rehiring and retraining. The result is a longer total disruption than the official holiday suggests, even at very capable factories.

Vietnam: often closer to the holiday, with its own pressure points

In our team's experience, many workers in Vietnamese factories keep working until close to Lunar New Year's Eve, which leaves more usable production days in late January. Return rates after Tet 2026 were also high: Vietnam's Ministry of Home Affairs reported that about 85% of workers in major industrial hubs such as Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai were back in the first days after the holiday, rising to about 95% by the end of February.

That does not make Vietnam disruption-free. Factories in fast-growing industrial provinces report labour shortages before and after Tet as they compete for workers, and new staff on a production line need time to reach the same quality. Tet is also Vietnam's biggest domestic shopping season: retailers stock up at least two months ahead, so local supply chains, printers and trucking are busy in the same weeks your export order is being finished.

Our view: for brands with February or March deadlines, Vietnam can be an advantage in this window, but only when the factory's own calendar and its material supply both support the timeline. That is the comparison worth making, factory by factory, rather than country by country. Play Trail can check a specific factory's Tet calendar, workforce plan and material position before you commit a Q1 order to it.

Why Materials Matter as Much as Your Factory's Holiday Dates

A Vietnamese factory that is open can still be waiting on materials from suppliers in China that are closed.

Many manufacturers in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries rely more on imported materials than their Chinese counterparts do, so they often need extra time for material sourcing and logistics. Around Lunar New Year, that dependency matters twice. If fabric, resin or components come from China, the Chinese shutdown reaches the Vietnamese production line, even if the line itself is running. If materials are already in the factory before the holiday, the factory can keep producing; if they are not, the order may have to wait for the next production run after the restart.

Which inputs to check depends on the product category:

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Our sourcing guides for plush toy manufacturing in Vietnam, plastic toy manufacturing in Vietnam and eco-friendly toy materials in Vietnam and Indonesia cover which inputs are typically local and which are imported for each category.

Already in Production? What to Lock In Before December

The most useful step is getting four dates from each factory in writing, and planning around the last one rather than the official holiday.

1. Last date to confirm orders and materials. The point after which the factory cannot buy materials or book capacity before the holiday.

2. Last production day. When the line actually stops, which may be earlier than the factory's official closing date.

3. Last ex-factory or dispatch date. Line this up with your forwarder's cut-offs, since vessel space and freight rates tend to tighten in the weeks before the holiday. Who books the freight under your Incoterms decides how much room you have to switch part of a shipment to air.

4. Date back at full capacity. Not the reopening date. A factory can reopen with part of its workforce and need several more weeks to reach normal output.

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Two quality points are worth adding to the list:

1. The pre-holiday rush is when overflow work is most likely to move to another workshop, so confirm in writing that your order stays at the approved factory; the subcontracting questions in our factory vetting guide apply here too.  

2. The first output after the restart often comes from lines with new or returning workers. Planning an inspection for that first post-holiday batch, in the same way as a first article inspection, catches problems before they reach a full shipment.

If you need spring stock in US stores, keep in mind that Easter falls on 28 March 2027, right when many Chinese factories are getting back to normal output. Our earlier notes on navigating Chinese New Year disruption in Southeast Asian toy sourcing cover more of the pre-holiday groundwork.

Starting a Project in Q1? How Lunar New Year Shapes the Timeline

For a new project, the holiday affects quoting and sampling as much as mass production.

From mid-January, factory sales and engineering teams are focused on finishing current orders. An RFQ sent in late January may not get a full answer until after the holiday, and sampling rounds can stall for several weeks. A complete brief sent in November or December gets a usable quote back before the break; our guide to writing a toy manufacturing brief that gets accurate factory quotes covers what to include.

Lunar New Year should not decide your sourcing country on its own. Product-category fit, factory capability, tariff exposure and landed cost carry more weight over the life of a program. But if a February or March delivery is critical, the factory's holiday calendar and where its materials come from belong in the comparison next to price and lead time. This is also one of the practical reasons many brands diversify their supplier base across Southeast Asia: two production bases with different holiday patterns spread the risk.

If you are starting a new toy program and the timeline is tight, Play Trail can help identify factories whose capacity, materials and holiday calendar fit your dates. We cannot promise that a tight timeline will work for every product, but we can tell you early and honestly whether it is realistic.

What If a Product Sells Out and You Need a Reorder Around Lunar New Year?

A reorder is often possible, but it is usually a separate production batch and depends on whether materials are available.

From our team's experience on the production side, this is how a fast reorder typically plays out:

• If the first batch has already been packed and handed over to logistics or customs, it is usually too late to add units to that shipment.

• If materials are available, factories will normally do their best to arrange an extra production batch and ship it separately, especially when the quantity is small.

• If raw materials are insufficient, the reorder may have to wait for the next production run. Close to Lunar New Year, that can mean waiting until after the restart.

How long a reorder takes depends on the product category, the MOQ, raw material availability and shipping time, so there is no single figure to plan around. What helps is agreeing in advance how much material the factory keeps in reserve for a fast-selling SKU, and knowing the reorder MOQ before you need it.

What This Holiday Season Can Tell You About Next Year's Plan

For new production, the 2026 holiday season is already decided; the useful work now is recording what happened so the 2027 plan starts from real numbers.

From our team's experience, factories usually need to start production around three months ahead of Black Friday, including shipping time to the US. Black Friday 2027 falls on 26 November, which puts production starts for that season around late August. Most brands' planning teams already work to timelines like this. The extra value this season is in the details that only show up during a peak: which SKUs sold through faster than forecast, how long a reorder actually took, and which suppliers responded quickly. Lunar New Year falls right in the window when many 2027 orders are being shaped, so it is a natural point to feed those lessons into the next plan.

What This Means for Your Q1 Sourcing Plan

Lunar New Year 2027 is predictable, but it arrives earlier than last year and affects Vietnam and China in different ways. The brands that get through it with the fewest surprises plan around their factory's real calendar and their materials' real calendar, not just the official holiday. Vietnam can offer more usable days around Tet for the right product and factory, but only when the materials are already in place.

If you are planning Q1 orders or a new production program in Vietnam or Southeast Asia, get in touch with Play Trail. Tell us about your product, volume and target date, and we will help you build a realistic timeline around the holiday.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Lunar New Year 2027?

Lunar New Year 2027 falls on Saturday 6 February in both Vietnam and China. Vietnam's public sector is off from 4 to 10 February, and China's official holiday is widely reported as 5 to 12 February. Individual factories set their own closing and reopening dates, which are often wider than the official holiday.

How long are Vietnamese toy factories closed for Tet?

There is no single figure. Vietnamese law gives workers at least five paid days for Tet, and each factory sets its own schedule around that. The maximum closure range at partner factories is 14 days if they are Chinese owned and run. The more important date to confirm is when the factory expects to be back at full capacity.

Do Chinese factories close for longer than Vietnamese factories over Lunar New Year?

Often, in practice. Many Chinese factory workers travel long distances home and some leave a week or more before the holiday, so the total disruption is commonly estimated at four to six weeks. In Vietnam, workers often stay closer to New Year's Eve, and after Tet 2026 about 95% of workers in major hubs were back by the end of February. Both patterns vary by region and factory.

Can I still place a toy order before Lunar New Year 2027?

It depends on the product, the materials and the factory's capacity. Repeat orders with materials already in stock are the most realistic. New products that still need sampling or tooling are much harder to finish before early February. Ask the factory for its last order date, last production day, last dispatch date and full-capacity return date before you commit.

Does sourcing from Vietnam avoid Lunar New Year disruption?

No. Vietnam celebrates Tet on the same date and factories close for it. The difference is often in timing: workers tend to keep working closer to the holiday and return faster. But a Vietnamese factory that depends on materials from China can still be delayed by the Chinese shutdown.

References & Data Sources

• Vietnamese Government, approved 2027 Lunar New Year holiday schedule for civil servants and public employees (4 to 10 February 2027), as reported by VnExpress International

• Vietnam Labour Code 2019, Article 112 on public holidays, including paid Lunar New Year leave

• Vietnam Ministry of Home Affairs, post-Tet 2026 worker return figures for major industrial hubs, as reported by Voice of Vietnam and Vietnam News, February 2026

• Reporting on pre- and post-Tet labour shortages in Vietnamese industrial provinces, The Hanoi Times, 2026

• China State Council General Office, annual public holiday notice (2027 schedule pending at time of writing; 5 to 12 February widely reported)

• Industry logistics and sourcing guides on Chinese New Year 2027 production disruption (directional estimates of a four- to six-week disruption window)

• Spielwarenmesse and Toy Fair New York, official 2027 event dates

• Play Trail sourcing team, direct production experience in Vietnam and China

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