Vietnamese Lunar New Year: A Celebration of Tradition and Family

The Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tết Nguyên Đán) is the most important and widely celebrated festival in Vietnam. Marking the arrival of spring, Tết is a time for family reunions, ancestral worship, and cultural festivities that have been passed down for generations. Throughout the country, vibrant traditions and customs bring communities together in an atmosphere of joy and renewal.

Highlights of Vietnamese Lunar New Year

1. 1. Family Reunions and Ancestral Worship: Tết is a time when families come together to pay respects to their ancestors through offerings and prayers at home altars or temples.
   2. New Year’s Eve Celebrations (Giao Thừa): At midnight, families gather to welcome the new year with fireworks, symbolic offerings, and heartfelt wishes for prosperity and happiness.
   3. Traditional Foods of Tết: Festive dishes such as bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake), bánh tét (cylindrical sticky rice cake), and pickled vegetables are prepared and shared among loved ones.
   4. Giving and Receiving Lì Xì (Red Envelopes): Elders gift red envelopes filled with lucky money to children and younger family members as a symbol of good fortune.
   5. Visiting Pagodas and Temples: Many Vietnamese visit temples on the first days of the new year to pray for health, luck, and success in the coming year.
   6. Tet Markets and Flower Festivals: Bustling Tết markets are filled with festive decorations, peach blossoms, kumquat trees, and calligraphy works symbolizing luck and prosperity.
   7. First Visitor of the New Year (Xông Đất): The first person to enter a home in the new year is believed to bring either good or bad luck, so families often choose a lucky individual to perform this ritual.
   8. Spring Festivals and Folk Games: Traditional games, lion dances, and boat races are held throughout the country, adding to the lively Tết celebrations.
   9. Sweeping Away Bad Luck: Before Tết, homes are thoroughly cleaned to remove bad energy from the past year, while during the first days of the new year, sweeping is avoided to prevent sweeping away good luck.
   10. Wishing and Sharing New Year’s Blessings: Families and friends exchange greetings such as “Chúc Mừng Năm Mới” (Happy New Year) and “An Khang Thịnh Vượng” (Wishing you peace and prosperity).

Tết is not just a holiday, it is a time-honored celebration that reflects Vietnam’s deep-rooted traditions and cultural identity, bringing people closer as they welcome a hopeful and prosperous new year.