2026 Spring Festival Gala opened the Lunar New Year with a production that combined cultural continuity and cutting-edge stagecraft, reaffirming its position as China’s most watched annual broadcast. Produced by China Media Group and aired live on Lunar New Year’s Eve, the programme once again transformed a family holiday into a nationally shared television moment.
Known domestically as Chunwan, the gala began at 8 p.m. Beijing time on 16 February and continued past midnight. For millions of households across China, it served as both entertainment and ritual, playing in the background of reunion dinners and marking the final hours before the New Year bell.
First staged in 1983, the Spring Festival Gala has evolved alongside China’s media landscape. What began as a studio variety show has developed into a multi-platform global broadcast with satellite distribution, digital streaming and Ultra HD transmission.
Ahead of the 2026 edition, executives from China Media Group outlined the theme, presenters and technical direction at a press conference in Beijing on 4 February. This year’s guiding concept, “joy, auspiciousness and jubilance”, signalled a return to traditional cultural imagery while embracing digital production tools.
Six experienced hosts led the main venue in the capital: Ren Luyu, Sa Beining, Neghmet, Long Yang, Ma Fanshu and Liu Xinyue. Their role followed a familiar structure, guiding viewers through music, dance, comedy sketches, opera excerpts, martial arts, acrobatics and magic. The format remains consistent, even as the surrounding technology changes.
The 2026 production centered on an expansive stage design anchored by LED walls, projection mapping systems and a central installation titled “Galloping Horses“. Through layered lighting and controlled color diffusion, designers created the illusion of motion extending from backdrop to floor, merging mechanical structures with digital imagery.
Rather than treating technology as decoration, the production integrated artificial intelligence, augmented reality and extended reality into the performance flow. Digital landscapes unfolded behind performers. Transitions between acts relied on AI-assisted visual rendering, allowing choreography and animation to blend in real time.
Certain segments incorporated drone formations and positioning systems connected to the Beidou navigation network. The result was a broadcast that expanded beyond the physical boundaries of the stage, creating a visual field designed as much for the camera as for the live audience.
Martial arts occupied a central segment of the evening. Performers demonstrated coordinated routines rooted in traditional forms, including fist techniques and weapon sequences. Overhead shots alternated with close views, linking choreography to live broadcast direction.
In one sequence, humanoid robots joined dancers to perform Kung Fu movements. The machines executed vaults and backflips programmed to align precisely with musical cues. Engineers monitored the performance from off-stage control stations, ensuring synchronization throughout the routine.
The appearance of robots reflected broader developments within China’s robotics industry. The country now hosts more than 150 humanoid robot companies, with annual sector growth exceeding 50 percent. Market projections suggest the industry could reach 100 billion yuan by 2030. The gala presented this technological progress not as a laboratory experiment, but as a visible feature of mainstream cultural production.
The 2026 programme also emphasized cultural dialogue. A joint acrobatic performance combined Chinese techniques with international choreography, placing artists from different countries within the same staging framework. Another segment blended ballet and street dance, aligning classical training with urban movement styles.
Comedy sketches drew from scenes of everyday family life and social change. Opera excerpts and regional folk songs reinforced ties to provincial traditions. Magic and acrobatics contributed spectacle without displacing the evening’s thematic focus on reunion and continuity.
For many viewers, the gala’s value lies less in any single performance and more in its function as a shared schedule. Families gather before television screens while preparing holiday meals. The broadcast moves in parallel with domestic rituals, culminating in the midnight countdown.
China Media Group expanded international distribution for the 2026 edition through its global network, including CGTN. Multilingual programming in 85 languages reached audiences through partnerships with more than 3,500 media outlets across over 200 countries and regions.
English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian channels carried the event live. Overseas Chinese communities accessed the programme through satellite services and digital platforms, aligning their celebrations with viewers in China despite time differences.
Domestically, the gala aired in 4K and 8K Ultra HD formats and streamed via CCTV News applications. For the first time, an accessible version broadcast live on CCTV-15 featured sign language interpretation and AI-generated captions, improving inclusion for viewers with hearing loss.
CMG executives described the programme as “the People’s Gala”, linking the 2026 edition to China’s broader technological development. Artificial intelligence and robotics, once confined to research settings, now appear in consumer markets and public cultural events.
As the 43rd installment of the Spring Festival Gala, the Year of the Horse edition demonstrated how the programme continues to track shifts in media production. From early studio broadcasts in the 1980s to global multi-platform transmission, it reflects both continuity and adaptation.
On Lunar New Year’s Eve, households across China and viewers abroad followed the same sequence of performances. The 2026 Spring Festival Gala once again fused heritage, entertainment and advanced production systems into a single national broadcast, reinforcing its place within China’s contemporary cultural calendar.
