By Randy Dao
Tết Nguyên Đán, or Tết for short, is considered the biggest and most popular festival of the year in Vietnam. Celebrated on the first day of the first month in the Lunar Calendar, Tết’s celebration is the longest holiday, which may last up to seven days.
Tết is an occasion for Vietnamese people to express their respect and remembrance for their ancestors, as well as welcoming the New Year with their beloved family members. Every family will get together to have big meals, decorate Tết trees, and eat Tết food to welcome the new year instead of a religious cause.
My family and I celebrate this every single year, as it is a tradition my family has celebrated for centuries. When the New Years comes every year, my siblings and I are always super excited because of all the the delicious food we will be eating, celebrating good times with family members, receiving traditional red envelopes that contain a certain amount of money in it, wearing traditional clothing, and also going out to light firecrackers.
Since Tết occupies an important role in Vietnamese religious beliefs, Vietnamese people will begin their preparations well in advance of the upcoming New Year. In an effort to get rid of the bad luck of the past year, Viet residents will spend a few days cleaning their homes, polishing every utensil, or even repainting and decorating the house with kumquat trees, blossom trees, and many other colorful flowers. Everybody, especially children, buy new traditional clothes and shoes to wear on the first days of New Year.
People also try to pay all their pending debts and resolve all the arguments among colleagues, friends or members of family.
Vietnamese people believe that colors like red and yellow will bring good fortune, which may explain why these colors can be seen everywhere during Lunar New Year. People also take into consideration what they do on the dawn of Tết because it will determine their fate for the whole year, hence people are always smiling and behave as nicely as they can in the hope for a better year. Gifts are also exchanged between family members, friends, and relatives, while children receive lucky money kept in a red envelope.
Overall, Vietnamese New Years is a very important and respectable event for my family and I. Although we don’t go all out during the New Years due to the majority of my relatives living far away, we try to make it memorable as possible whenever New Years comes.
Tết is an occasion for Vietnamese people to express their respect and remembrance for their ancestors, as well as welcoming the New Year with their beloved family members. Every family will get together to have big meals, decorate Tết trees, and eat Tết food to welcome the new year instead of a religious cause.
My family and I celebrate this every single year, as it is a tradition my family has celebrated for centuries. When the New Years comes every year, my siblings and I are always super excited because of all the the delicious food we will be eating, celebrating good times with family members, receiving traditional red envelopes that contain a certain amount of money in it, wearing traditional clothing, and also going out to light firecrackers.
Since Tết occupies an important role in Vietnamese religious beliefs, Vietnamese people will begin their preparations well in advance of the upcoming New Year. In an effort to get rid of the bad luck of the past year, Viet residents will spend a few days cleaning their homes, polishing every utensil, or even repainting and decorating the house with kumquat trees, blossom trees, and many other colorful flowers. Everybody, especially children, buy new traditional clothes and shoes to wear on the first days of New Year.
People also try to pay all their pending debts and resolve all the arguments among colleagues, friends or members of family.
Vietnamese people believe that colors like red and yellow will bring good fortune, which may explain why these colors can be seen everywhere during Lunar New Year. People also take into consideration what they do on the dawn of Tết because it will determine their fate for the whole year, hence people are always smiling and behave as nicely as they can in the hope for a better year. Gifts are also exchanged between family members, friends, and relatives, while children receive lucky money kept in a red envelope.
Overall, Vietnamese New Years is a very important and respectable event for my family and I. Although we don’t go all out during the New Years due to the majority of my relatives living far away, we try to make it memorable as possible whenever New Years comes.