Indochina Tour PackagesThe most prominent event in Vietnam is the Vietnamese New Year, commonly known as Tet Festival. Tet is an acronym for Tet Nguyen Dan, which is the Vietnamese term for the first morning of the first day of the lunar calendar.
Tet 2022 will happen on Tuesday, February 1st, 2022, and will be the Year of the Tiger.
What is Tet in Vietnam?
During the Vietnam War, Americans may recall the Tet Offensive of 1968. Tet Nguyen Dan, or Tet, is Vietnam’s Lunar New Year, which lasts 5-7 days and is the country’s most important yearly festival and public holiday.
Tet marks the start of a new year as well as the arrival of spring. Traditional cuisine, music, and dragon dance are all performed in the streets as part of the raucous celebrations. There is a great sense of celebration in the air during this period, making it a delightful time to visit Vietnam.
Tet, which is celebrated as a time of regeneration, allows Vietnamese people to pay honor to their ancestors and hold family reunions.
Preparations normally begin a week before Tet, when people start to return home, clean their family tombs, pray at their family altars, and adorn their homes with apricot blooms, peach blossoms, and kumquat trees, signifying the prospect of wealth and well-being.
When is Tet?
Tet follows the lunar calendar and is usually observed on the same day as Chinese New Year. The date varies from year to year, although it usually occurs between mid-January and late February. For Tet, the majority of Vietnamese people will enjoy five days off.
Tet celebrations might last anywhere from three days to a week. The day before New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day are all part of the festivities.
Because all of these days are based on the Vietnamese or lunar calendar, they will occur on a different day each year. In 2022, the Tet Festival will take place on February 1st.
2022 is the Vietnamese New Year (a Year of the Tiger)
Vietnamese New Year is important for the Vietnamese people because it is thought that what they do on the first day of the year will affect the rest of the year. It is similar to Chinese New Year. As a result, people pay close attention to everything they say and do on this particular day.
The dates for the next Vietnamese New Year, as well as the Lunar Zodiac Animals connected with them, are shown here.
- 2021: February 22 – the year of the buffalo
- 2022: February 1 –the year of the tiger
- 2023: January 22 – the year of the cat
- 2024: February 10 – the year of the dragon
- 2025: February 29 – the year of the snake
- 2026: February 17 – the year of the horse
What Is the Best Way to Commemorate Tet?
Tet is the most family-oriented celebration in Vietnam, and Vietnamese people frequently travel back to their ancestral homes to celebrate the holiday with their extended families. Families will prepare a feast on Tet to welcome visiting relatives and friends, as well as to offer greetings and New Year’s best wishes.
Before Tet,
Get ready for Tet: Vietnamese households usually spend a lot of time sweeping and cleaning their houses before Tet. This activity symbolizes the eradication of ill luck from the previous year and the preparation for the arrival of the New Year.
The Vietnamese believe that during Tet, the spirits of departed family members would visit the living, so they clean their family shrines, create a display of ancestors’ photos with burning incense, and send offerings of flowers and fruit to them. The shrines are thoroughly cleaned and new offerings and decorations are placed there before Tet.
The vibrant festival mood fills the streets with brilliant flower displays. People go to marketplaces to buy decorations for their houses, materials to make traditional Tet dishes, and new outfits to wear when they visit friends for the New Year.
The New Year – Tet
However, the first day of Tet is usually kept for the nuclear family. Children will get red envelopes containing money from their older relatives on this day.
New Year’s Day “People in the streets make loud noises, using firecrackers, drums, bells, and gongs to scare off evil spirits on St. Patrick’s Day. On this particular day, there is also a parade. Parades are held all throughout the city, and they are vibrant events with people dressed in masks doing lion dances.
Families gather after the firecrackers and parades for a huge feast of traditional Vietnamese foods.
Because the Vietnamese think that the first visitors to a household decide their fate for the entire year, they want to ask someone of excellent morals to be the first ones to visit the house in order to bring them all of the New Year’s benefits.
Tet is also seen to be a good time to launch a store or start a company.
Tet Decorations in Vietnam
The Tet decorations in Vietnam are among the most stunning, and they contribute a lot to the festive atmosphere.
People buy peach blossom trees, kumquat trees, and orange trees for their houses during the Tet Festival. There will be flowers everywhere, especially chrysanthemums and orchids, which will be displayed in large displays across the cities and which individuals will have in their houses and in pots outside of their homes.
While peach blossoms and kumquat trees are more prominent in Vietnam’s north, the yellow Mai flower is more popular in the country’s central and southern regions. These fruits and plants represent the family’s expectations for fertility and fruitfulness in the next year!
During the Tet Festival, what should you eat?
Try traditional Vietnamese dishes to participate in the Tet festival! Tet is a festival of gluttony, with a pig, poultry, sticky rice, and candied fruit being served in every household. The following three delectable meals are among the most popular dishes served by Vietnamese people during Tet.
This delectable treat is constructed of tightly packed sticky rice, which may include either a pork filling or a bean spread, and is only consumed in Vietnam during Tet. To keep the interior of the sticky rice fresh for the length of the event, it is usually wrapped in banana leaves.
Gio or Cha
During Tet, this Vietnamese ham or sausage is frequently eaten with sticky rice. You may order this festive dish in two ways: gio, which means boiling meat, and cha, which means fried meat.
Xoi
Sticky rice is a traditional Vietnamese dish. Xoi is a mainstay for all meals dedicated to the worship of the ancestors in Vietnam, and it is served at many festivals. Many other components, such as peanuts, mung beans, or fruit, can be used to make it.
Greetings for the Tet Festival – How to Say Happy New Year in Vietnamese
Vietnamese is a tonal language that might be difficult to master. During the Tet holiday, though, people will understand you if you start with a wide smile and say “Chuc mung nam moi.” This sounds like “chook moong nam moi” and means “Happy New Year” in Vietnamese.
Traveling to Vietnam around Tet
Tet is one of the most joyous times of the year to visit, but it’s essential to be prepared because this is a different time of the year to visit Vietnam than the rest of the year.
What to Anticipate
Tet is a tremendously joyous period in Vietnam, and you’ll see gorgeous decorations and flowers everywhere. The cities go all out with flower displays all around the country, contributing to the incredible ambiance.
When you consider that the weather in Vietnam is at its finest around the Tet Festival (February is often the greatest time to visit the entire country), it’s clear that you don’t need to cancel your Tet plans!
Many companies will close the day before Tet because it is one of the only holidays that many Vietnamese workers get, and they may remain closed for several days. This contains the majority of museums, tourist attractions, and retail establishments. If you’re traveling during this time, it’s a good idea to double-check operating hours before going anywhere specific.
Tips for Visiting Vietnam during Tet Festival
We recommend arranging accommodations and transportation in advance if you are visiting Vietnam during Tet Festival since many people will be going throughout the nation to see relatives during that week. Due to increased demand, you may need to account for somewhat higher expenses, especially if you are not reserving in advance.
Tourist-friendly restaurants are more likely to be open in major cities, so try the Western restaurants or the larger Vietnamese eateries recommended in your guidebooks during these few days. If you’re unsure, you may contact ahead to check opening hours throughout the holiday season to avoid disappointment, and they’ll also know where is open.
We propose visiting the public parks and lakes, which are always open, while certain museums and art galleries will be closed. For example, in Hanoi, walking about to soak in the festive mood, as well as the Old Quarter, is a terrific idea.
