Canthan New Year

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Canthan New Year is the celebration of the new year, where the people of Cantha prepare and partake in a great feast to honor the particular celestial animal who will watch over them during the coming year.

The lore indicates that if the celestial animal is satisfied with the meal, it will bestow good luck upon the populace for the coming year.

During the Canthan New Year, many activities take place around Shing Jea Monastery. Please see the Canthan New Year 2007 for details.

The Canthan New Year appears to be the starting point of the Canthan Calendar.

Schedule (2008)

Wednesday, February 6th: Redecoration of the towns.
Friday, February 8th, Noon PST (20:00 GMT): Start of the event
Friday, February 8th, Noon PST (20:00 GMT): Festival NPC's arrived.
Sunday, February 10th, 12:01 AM PST (08:01 GMT): first appearance of the Celestial Rat
Monday, February 11th, 12:01 AM PST (08:01 GMT): last appearance of the Celestial Rat
Monday, February 11th, Noon PST (20:00 GMT): Announced end of the festival.

Schedule (2007)

Wednesday, February 14th: Redecoration of the towns, addition of some NPCs.
Friday, February 16th, Noon PST (20:00 GMT): Start of the event
Sunday, February 18th, 12:01 AM PST (08:01 GMT): first appearance of the Celestial Pig
Monday, February 19th, 12:01 AM PST (08:01 GMT): last appearance of the Celestial Pig
Monday, February 19th, Noon PST (20:00 GMT): Announced end of the festival.
Monday, February 19th, 5:00 PM PST (Tuesday, February 20th, 01:00 GMT): Actual end of the festival. A Lunar Gift Keeper was added to Shing Jea Monastery, 1 Red Gift Bag for 5 Lunar Tokens.

New year in Shing Jea Monastery

[edit] Redecorated towns

[edit] Event-specific locations

[edit] Quests

(You must be Level 5 or higher to participate in the quests)

Sunqua Vale

Hapless Chong: Just My Luck

Shing Jea Monastery:

Plains of Jarin:

Elder Nofuun: Douse Your Enthusiasm

or

Fehj: A Burning Desire

[edit] NPCs

For a listing, see: Category:Canthan New Year NPCs.

[edit] Collectors

[edit] Minigames

[edit] Rollerbeetle Racing

Accessed by talking to the Rollerbeetle Trainer in Lion's Arch, Shing Jea Monastery, Kamadan, and the Great Temple of Balthazar.

Cost: Free

Prizes

First place receives 7 Lunar Tokens, 7 Gamer Points, and 50 Balthazar Faction. First place also receives +50 Balthazar Faction for a "Flawless Victory" and 50 Balthazar Faction for every 5 consecutive wins.
Second place receives 5 Lunar Tokens and 5 Gamer Points.
Third place receives 3 Lunar Tokens and 3 Gamer Points.
Fourth place receives 2 Lunar Tokens and 2 Gamer Points.
Remaining Players will receive one Lunar Token and 1 Gamer Point if they reach the end of the track within 30 seconds of 1st Place.

Additionally, the players with the top 100 scores at the end of the Canthan New Year 2007 event received a miniature Rollerbeetle that looks similar to Greased Lightning.

[edit] Rock, Paper, Scissors

Only available in Lion's Arch from Lucky Hochei. A simple game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Cost: 1 Lunar Token

Prizes

Win: 1 Lunar Fortune, 1 Sugary Blue Drink.
Tie: 1 Lunar Token.
Lose: knocked down.

[edit] Items

Sugary Blue Drink: Just the thing when you need a quick boost of energy in town.
Champagne Poppers: The classic party favor used to ring in the New Year in style.
Bottle Rockets: A single-shot firework. Please point away from body.
Sparklers: Shoots sparks around your body. Be careful not to stand near flammable objects.
Red Gift Bag: Surprises come wrapped in red during the New Year's festival. Open for a festival gift or, possibly, a small fortune.
Lunar Fortune: Will you have good luck or bad luck this year? Only your lunar fortune can tell you.
Lunar Token: Collect these tokens throughout the festival and trade them in for prizes or to play Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Red Bean Cake: Sugar Rush
Lion Mask: Automatically added to characters' inventories that are in Shing Jea Monastery at the end of the Celestial Feast. It looks like a traditional eastern lion. Note: This is not an omission or mistake; the lion mask is the unique headgear for both the 2007 and 2008 events.

New Items for the 2008 Event

Miniature Celestial Rat: A random prize from using Lunar Fortunes, these are gold mini pets of a cute variety.
Miniature Celestial Pig: Handed out to those who turned in 5 miniature pigs.
Crate of Fireworks: Handed out at the Celestial Feast if all 5 dishes were prepared.

Items Given at the 2007 Event

Miniature Pig: A random prize from using Lunar Fortunes, these are gold mini pets of a cute variety. Additionally, players who were in Shing Jea Monastery during one of the Celestial Pig's appearances at a Celestial Feast have a chance of obtaining one if the district they were in completed all 5 dishes.
Miniature Greased Lightning: The Prize for the top 100 Rollerbeetle Racers.

[edit] The Celestial Feast

The Celestial Feast takes place when the Celestial Animal (pig, rat, etc) arrives in the Shing Jea Monastery. At the start of the festival an announcement is made and an 8-minute countdown timer starts. The chefs will begin requesting required items. As items were provided, the chefs stopped requesting them. At the 1 minute mark, or as soon as all 5 dishes were prepared, depending on how many dishes the district managed to complete, participants received a number of Red Gift Bags and possibly a miniature pet. If the Celestial Animal is unsatisfied with its meal (ie, no dishes finished), it becomes angry. After the feast there is a fireworks display.

Specific to the 2007 Event The Celestial Animal was the Celestial Pig. If no dishes were prepared, all players were turned into warthogs (pigs) for the duration of the event. After the feast, everyone in the district received a Lion Mask and fireworks were displayed while the Celestial Pig and a group of warthogs ran around the outpost.

All 5 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 16 Red Gift Bags, 1 Miniature Pig
Any 4 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 12 Red Gift Bags
Any 3 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 8 Red Gift Bags
Any 2 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 6 Red Gift Bags
Any 1 dish prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 4 Red Gift Bags
No dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 2 Red Gift Bags, everyone briefly becomes a pig.

Specific to the 2008 Event The Celestial Animal was the Celestial Rat. After the feast, everyone in the district received a Lion Mask and fireworks were displayed while the Celestial Rat and a group of rats ran around the outpost.

All 5 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 16 Red Gift Bags, 5 Crates of Fireworks
Any 4 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 12 Red Gift Bags
Any 3 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 8 Red Gift Bags
Any 2 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 6 Red Gift Bags
Any 1 dish prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 4 Red Gift Bags
No dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 2 Red Gift Bags, everyone briefly becomes a rat.

The Feast

To create dishes to please the great celestial, the Imperial Chefs will be looking for these ingredients:

NOTE: You will receive 1 Lunar Token for each ingredient that you give to a chef when they ask for it. You can repeatably give the same ingredient for additional Lunar Tokens until the chef asks for the next ingredient. Once a chef moves on to the next ingredient you can no longer give the previous ingredient. Likewise you can not give an ingredient that has not yet been requested. To complete all 5 dishes, all ingredients above must be provided. However, it is not necessary that all ingredients come from one person; different ingredients can be provided by different people.

[edit] Canthan New Year 2008 Finale

Finale Rotation #	Time (PST)	Time (GMT)	Status
1	Sunday, February 10th 12.01 AM	Sunday, February 10th 08.01 AM	Finished
2	Sunday, February 10th 03.01 AM	Sunday, February 10th 11.01 AM	Finished
3	Sunday, February 10th 06.01 AM	Sunday, February 10th 02.01 PM	Finished
4	Sunday, February 10th 09.01 AM	Sunday, February 10th 05.01 PM	Finished
5	Sunday, February 10th 12.01 PM	Sunday, February 10th 08.01 PM	Finished
6	Sunday, February 10th 03.01 PM	Sunday, February 10th 11.01 PM	Finished
7	Sunday, February 10th 06.01 PM	Monday, February 11th 02.01 AM	Finished
8	Sunday, February 10th 09.01 PM	Monday, February 11th 05.01 AM	Finished
9	Monday, February 11th 12.01 AM	Monday, February 11th 08.01 AM	Finished

[edit] Celestial Animals

The month when a character is created determines their celestial animal.

Month	Animal
January	Pig
February	Rat
March	Ox
April	Tiger
May	Rabbit
June	Dragon
July	Snake
August	Horse
September	Sheep
October	Monkey
November	Rooster
December	Dog

[edit] Trivia

Canthan New Year is heavily inspired by the Chinese New Year. Not only do the dates match, the celestial creatures are also the same as the animals from the Chinese Zodiac.

[edit] External links

Official site

Canthan New Year's Festival 2007 [1], 2008 [2]
Screenshots (2007). [3]

Fansites

Complete Guide to the 2008 Canthan New Year Event :) [4]
Guild Wars Guru forum - Developer Roundtable, 26 January 2007 (includes brief description of Canthan New Year) [5]
GWVault - Cantha finally gets some love (Canthan New Year, focused on Rollerbeetle Race) [6]
Das Cantha Neujahrsevent (in German) [7]
Guild Wars Hispano forum thread (in Spanish) about Rollerbeetle Race [8]
Guild Wars Poland forum thread (in Polish) about Canthan New Year and Rollerbeetle Race [9]

Guild Wars Special Events

Halloween	2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008
Wintersday	2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008
Dragon Festival	2006 • 2007 • 2008
Canthan New Year	2007 • 2008
April Fools' Day	2007 • 2008
	Day of the Tengu • Easter • Thanksgiving • Farewell to Gaile