Tet holiday – Vietnamese Lunar New Year or simply Tet Vietnam is the most significant festival in

the S-shaped country. As a result of being calculated by the lunar calendar, the Tet festival often
occurs at the end of January or the beginning of February, which is later than New Year’s Day. As
the longest Vietnam holiday, Tet Vietnam is the most wonderful occasion for all foreign tourists
to spend their Vietnam vacation packages enjoying the festive atmosphere and exploring one of
the oldest festivals in the world. Tet festival 2022 is on February 1st, 2022 (New Year Eve is the
previous day).

What is Tet Holiday – Vietnamese New Year?

Tet Vietnam is celebrated to welcome the Lunar New Year and summarize what they did
in the old one. It is considered an important mark for changes, plans, and progress. In
addition, Vietnamese people believe that what they do on the first day of the new year
will affect their rest. Therefore, they pay great attention to every word they say and
everything they do. Furthermore, Tet in Vietnam may be the only occasion for all family
members to have happy moments together after a year of hard-working

A traditional Tet festival in Vietnam often lasts for a month. However, the busy life makes it
shorter, even disappear. If you choose a new type of travel like cruising to enjoy multi-culture
Lunar New Year, your travel plan should be picked the right countries where people still hold a
long festival such as Thailand, China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, which is often a week. Recently, some
people express their idea to cancel the Vietnamese New Year and only celebrate the Western
New Year. Although it is constructive, the Tet holiday will have still been remaining as a vital
festival in Vietnam because of its priceless traditions, customs, and meaning.

The Features on Tet Holiday – Vietnamese New Year

Vietnamese Lunar New Year is NOT Chinese Lunar New Year

It is absolutely mistaken to say that the Vietnamese are celebrating the Chinese Lunar
New Year. Although both countries use the lunar calendar, Vietnamese people have
different lunar new year customs, celebrations, and traditions from China.

The History of Lunar New Year in Vietnam

According to the historical documents, in the thirteenth century, Vietnamese people
often celebrated the Tet holiday by painting tattoos on themselves, drinking traditional
glutinous-rice liquor, using betel nuts to welcome guests, and eating Chung cakes,
pickled onions. In the Ly dynasty (1009-1226), many important rituals were made on the
Tet festival such as setting up a dome to pray for the rains or building communal houses
to crave for a year of abundant harvests. In the period of King Le Thanh Tong (1442-
1497), Tet was the most important festival and hundreds of mandarins had to gather at
the royal court to celebrate this lunar new year festival with royal families

The Tet Holiday’s Foods

In the Vietnamese language, to celebrate Tet also means to eat, which affirmed the
important role of Vietnam Lunar New Year’s Food. One Vietnamese traditional proverb
denotes that you can be hungry all year except three days of the Tet festival because
dozens of delicious dishes and desserts will be prepared on Lunar New Year in Vietnam
to feast on the ancestors as well as every family member.

Chung Cake
Chung cake is the traditional cake in Vietnam that only appears on the Tet holiday. Tasty
and savory Chung cake is made from very familiar ingredients to all Vietnamese such as
sticky rice, green beans, and pork, which is wrapped in green leaves and boiled
overnight. According to a legend that has been passed on for thousands of generations,
Chung cake is the symbol of Earth because it combines all the unique ingredients of
Vietnamese agriculture. Although Chung cake can be tasted all seasons nowadays,
enjoying these cakes during the Tet holiday still brings special feelings for Vietnamese
people.

Jam – Vietnamese Lunar New Year’s Dessert

Jam is the common snack to welcome guests on the Tet holiday. It is mainly made from
dried fruits like carrots, coconuts, apples, or some kinds of seeds such as roasted
watermelon seeds, sunflower seeds mixed with sugar. The Vietnamese believe eating
sweet things on the Tet holiday will bring them luck for the Lunar New Year.

Pickled Onions
On the Tet holiday, people often eat fat and oiled foods which easily cloys their appetite.
This is high time for something with low calories and fresh like pickled onions. They help
the digestive system digest high-protein food more easily. In the minds of Vietnamese
people, Tet is only complete when there are fat meat, pickled onions, and red distiches.

Besides, there is a myriad of signature dishes that inspire the taste in different regions
on Vietnamese Lunar New Year such as spring rolls, boiled chickens, Vietnamese
sausages, sticky rice, and so on.

Mascots of Tet holiday

Vietnamese Zodiac Signs
Each Lunar New Year will have a symbolic animal. 12 Vietnamese zodiac signs are
different from Chinese ones (The fourth zodiac sign in Vietnam is Cat while it is Rabbit in
China). Every animal will bring unique luck in its year so you can see them everywhere in
Vietnam through Tet holiday decorations or advertisement signs. Tet holiday 2022 is the
year of the Tiger.

Trees & Flowers on Tet Holiday

Peach blossom in Northern Vietnam and apricot blossom trees in Southern Vietnam are
also symbols that exclusively appear on the Tet holiday. The light red of peach blossom
will bring luck while the yellow of apricot blossom will bring fortune to the owners. It is
said that Tet Vietnam will lose itself if missing two of them.

Neu Tree
It is originally a 5 meters tall bamboo shoot. The chop of the tree hangs different things
based on each region such as votive papers, amulet exorcism, or alcohol bottles made
of straw. It is believed that the appearance of the Neu tree on the Tet holiday in Vietnam
is the signal for the devils to realize that this place is home to living people, not to
harass.

Tray of Five Fruits

This is a tray of five different fruits such as bananas, grapefruits, oranges, and other
tropical fruits which are only prepared on the Vietnamese New Year. Although each
region chooses different fruits, a tray of five fruits is still used to express the wishes for
the Lunar New Year of the host family by their names, colors, and arrangements.

In addition, kumquat trees, Dong Ho paintings, red distiches are also believed by the
Vietnamese to bring luck and wealth for them all around the year.

How is Tet Holiday Celebrated?

Before Tet Holiday – How Vietnam Lunar New Year is Prepared?

Tet Ong Cong, Ong Tao (Gods & Goddess of Kitchen)

On the 23rd of the last month in the lunar calendar, Vietnamese people prepare the
traditional offerings and especially the carps to regale the gods and goddesses living at
their house all over the year. Then they will release the carps into the river so they will
be used by the Gods as the transportations to come to heaven, according to the legend.
At heaven, they will report everything happening all around the year of their family to
the King of heaven. They will come back on the last day of the year to celebrate the Tet
holiday with the host. The carps then become the dragons. Tet Ong Cong, Ong Tao of
Tet holiday 2022 is on January 25th.