Vietnamese most important Traditional festival is “Tet Nguyen Dan” which is briefly called “Tet“. This is the lunar new year of Vietnam.
Lunar New Year is a new year celebration based on Lunar Calendar. it’s celebrated worldwide but very popular in East Asian Countries.
The brief is TET is a new year celebration festival accordingly Vietnam Lunar Calendar. This festival comes in late January and early February every year. it falls in the spring season also called Spring Festival.
Tet means festival and Vietnamese use for Lunar New Year Tet Nguyen Dan means the morning of the first day of the New Year.
The day of the celebration is the same as the Chinese new year; Because the tradition of celebrating it has started in China.
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Vietnamese new year traditions
Tet is the most essential and unique celebration for every Vietnamese; every year, Vietnam officials declare a long holiday to celebrate the traditional Tet. To enjoy Tet, everyone migrates home and celebrates the festival with their family and friends.
Tet Calendar & Holidays
- In 2018, celebrated on 16 February, Friday. The year of the Dog. the official public holiday of 7 days was from 14 February to 20 February.
- In 2019, Tet is celebrated on the 5th of February, Tuesday. The year of the Pig. Government officials gave a public holiday of 7 days.
- In 2020, celebrated on the 25th of January, Saturday. The year of the Rat. the official TET holiday was from 23 Jan to 29 Jan.
- Tet 2021 (gregorian date), it’s falling on 12 February, Friday, Zodiac animal is Buffalo. the official public holiday of 7 days is from 10 Feb to 16 Feb.
- In 2022 will be falling on 1 February. The year of the Tiger.
- In 2023 will be falling on the 22 January, Sunday. The year of the Rabbit.
Click here to 100+ Lunar new year calendar
Zodiac Animals
The Vietnam lunar calendar has a zodiac cycle, there are 12 zodiac animals, and each year there is a zodiac animal that comes one by one from the acquittal. The animals are Rat or Cat, Ox or Buffalo, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat or Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
The importance of tet holiday
This is a big occasion for pilgrims and family reunions; they wish and give greeting cards to each other. It’s a totally family celebration.
People who are out of the house in another city or other country must gather once a year on this occasion and meet their Brother, Sister, Father, Mother, Uncle, Aunt, Grand-Father, Grand-Mother, grand-son, Grand-daughter, Great Grand-parents or son. This is a lot of Happiness time, a unique and amazing feeling for every family member.
Vietnam during new year’s
Preparations for the festival begin 2 weeks in advance, and people clean the houses, temple, grounds, and surroundings.
Before the new year, after cleaning the graves of their ancestors, decorate them and seek their blessings.
Everyone goes to the Buddhist temple with their family to pray to God, apologize for their bad behavior, keep away the evil forces and pray for good luck for the coming year.
New Year’s Eve is very important for families, everyone congratulates and gives the gift to each other, enjoys many traditional dishes, and plays games.
The first three days are very important because during this time people meet each other and congratulate the new year; On the first day of the year, do not go to someone’s house without an invitation, it is considered an omen.
The first day is for the nuclear family(father, mother, and there one or more children). visit relatives and friends’ houses.
Children wear new clothes and greet their elders by greeting the new year and in return, they get a red envelope which contains lucky money; Children spend this money on eating sweets, buying toys or gambling; The first greeting in the family is considered very lucky.
The second day is for friends, people go to their friends’ house, give them gifts, have food and congratulate them.
The third day is for the teacher, the teacher is highly respected in Vietnam, on this day his students and their parents congratulate them by giving them a gift.
Vietnam lunar new year Decoration
The view of Vietnam is worth seeing, the houses, shops, and neighborhoods are decorated well, and beautiful lanterns are hung.
Every house has decorated a Lucky bamboo tree, the upper part of which is well decorated with beautiful objects.
According to the Vietnam tradition, in the central and southern parts beautiful decorations of Yellow Apricot Blossoms, and in the northern part Peach Blossoms are decorated, those who are Elite in the past decorate the Pulm Blossoms.
Kumquat tree, Bonsai, Cherry Blossom, Orchid, the flower of Bonsai, Chrysanthemums, and Marigolds are used as beautiful decorations for a bright future. People also hung Pong Ho Paintings and Thu Phap Calligraphy pictures.
Vietnamese lunar new year presentation
Everyone congratulates each other by giving a traditional greeting card on the occasion of the new year. These cards are called Chu Mung Nam Moi and Chung Chu Tan Xuan.
Children get lucky money, by buying from shops or online websites, people gift traditional Tet baskets which contain cherish, fruits, sweets, etc.
Vietnamese new year firecrackers
On this occasion, there is a tradition of burning firecrackers and playing loud music, in which the devils run away. Artis perform Lion Dance is done which is very artistic to watch.
Tet foods
Food is very important in Lunar New Year, different types of dishes are made when the whole family is together. On the occasion of New Year’s Eve, all the women of the family make food together and serve it with their hands and provide food to the family with love.
- Banh Chung– A square shape traditional cack made with Sticky rice.
- Thit Kho Trung– A dish of braised pork and boiled egg, pork is cooked in a square shape by adding spices with boiled eggs.
- Canh Bong – A soup made with Vegetables boiled with pork skin.
- Hat Dua – This is roasted melon seeds, given to the people waiting to be eaten, which is used to peel the teeth from the inside and eat the seeds inside, so that hunger can be pacified till the food is cooked.
- Mut – it is the candied fruits. Which is prepared in all the houses, given to the relatives, friends, and visitors to the house to eat, children like it very much.
- Dua Hanh and Kieu – During Tet, every family prepares pickled fruits and vegetables like Onion, Cabbage, Carrot, and Cucumber.
- Mam Ngu Qua – this is a fruit tray in which five kinds of fruits are kept.
- Ga Laoc – Another popular te dish, boiled whole chicken with pale yellow color.
- Gio Cha – a famous Vietnamese sauce.
- Xoi Gac – Made with red sticky rice, sauces, Vietnamese cuisine, pork, and serv traditionally wrapped with banana leaves.
Tet Games
Bau Cua Tom Ca – In this game, there is a shit made of 6 pictures, which is played with the help of 3 dice with the same picture.
Co Tuong – It is similar to the Western Chase, which is played by 2 players.
Co Ca Ngua – Also called sea horse chase, Which four players play with the help of one or two dice. The number of dots that come in the dice moves its seahorse. In the last, the player whose seahorse doesn’t go middle loses the game.
Bai Tay – It is a playing card game.
Best place to spend tet in Vietnam
At this time, the view of Vietnam is worth seeing, there are movement and crowds everywhere, and shops, houses, streets, and grounds are beautifully decorated. Below are some best places where you can enjoy Tet.
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Hanoi
- Sapa
- Hue
- Moc Chau
- Hoi An
- Dalat
- Phu Quoc Island
- Nha Trang
During Tet is the best time to vizit Veitnam?
If you are planning to visit Vietnam during Lunar New Year then it may be a bit difficult for you as most of the visitors during this period are on vacation with family, and crowds are seen everywhere.
Hotels and inns are booked in advance, you will have to book them at least 2 weeks in advance. There is a huge crowd at the trains, buses, and planes.
Most businesses and museums are closed, and some hotels and restaurants are also closed.
If you can deal with these problems, then these times are very amazing and fun in Vietnam, you will never see them in the whole year.
There is excessive rainfall here and after that it gets cold, so if you want to visit Vietnam then the dry season is the best time to visit all the famous places, the season can be from December to March.
Happy New Year in Vietnamese – chúc mừng năm mới