New Year is celebrated all across the world with great enthusiasm and it is one of the most beloved festivals for many. Even Vietnam celebrates the New Year, but on a different date. Vietnamese follow the Lunar Calendar and so their New Year falls on different dates than the regular January 1st. In Vietnam, the Lunar New Year is called Tet or Tet Nguyen Dan. Vietnamese celebrate New Year on a whole new level as it marks the New Year for them. The festival is usually celebrated from 1st to 3rd of January every year. Also, Vietnamese New Year Traditions are unique compared to other countries’ traditions.
For Vietnamese, Tet is not just a celebration to welcome the New Year, but also a day to remember and follow all their traditions. It is a great time in the year when the entire family comes together to celebrate the big day. The Vietnamese New Year comes in the spring and is the best holiday season for the people of the country to come together and enjoy. Tet is unique in many ways and the traditions followed during the New Year depict the rich culture of the country.
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Vietnamese New Year Traditions
For the Vietnamese, Tet marks the start of spring in the country as well as the New Year. They consider Tet as the most sacred festival of all and celebrate it with great sincerity. The people of Vietnam believe that Tet marks the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. They believe that positivity during the time of Tet will lead them in the right direction throughout the year. People leave the baggage of negativity and move on to the New Year with a positive outlook on life.
The Tet Vietnam Traditions are completely different from what the rest of the world follows. They have a unique set of traditions that they abide by every spring sincerely believing that they would bring good luck and fortune into their lives. However, even in Vietnam, the traditions vary from religion to religion. For instance, the foods they cook during the Tet vary depending on the local fruits and vegetables available.
If you have friends in Vietnam or someone you know is living there, it is a good thing to know their traditions and wish them accordingly. Also, if you are going to visit Vietnam this New Year and want to learn the basic things about their traditions and foods and stuff, you can get the information from here. On the Vietnamese New Year, everyone wishes each other luck and prosperity throughout the year. There are many traditional ways to wish New Year on Tet and you can choose to wish your friends or relatives living there those wishes if you want.
Coming to Tet Vietnamese New Year Traditions, there are not one, but many that would interest you. The traditions followed by the Vietnamese people on the New Year are traditionally rooted in their culture. On the Vietnamese New Year, people exchange wishes, and gifts and eat traditional mouth-watering dishes. They also pay respects to their ancestors on the New Year.
1. Preparation
The New Year celebrations in Vietnam last for three days to even one week at times. The locals clean up their houses believing that it would remove any bad luck from the house. They clean every nook and corner of the house, yards and even light up incense sticks in the house. They stock up their kitchen with lots of groceries for the festival. Families come together and clean their households to celebrate the biggest festival of the year happily.
2. Decorations
Every household is decorated to its best on the occasion of Tet. They believe that red and yellow colours would bring them good luck and use them everywhere in their decorations. As Tet marks the arrival of spring, they use a lot of plants in their decorations to mark the same. As a part of decorations, they also decorate the bamboo tree with red paper and items. They consider the Bamboo tree very auspicious and decorate it beautifully.
3. Peach Blossom
Vietnamese believe that the peach blossom tree removes the evil spirits from the home and so keep the tree in their home during the Tet. Putting up a flowering peach tree in the home is a good sign of fortune as per the Vietnamese. They also display the Kumquat tree as it represents the generations in a family.
4. Food Traditions
The best part about Vietnamese New Year celebrations is their food. The Traditional Vietnamese New Year Food includes a lot of unique items. Vietnamese believe that eating pig feet on the Tet may bring them good luck. They make sure to include pig feet in their main course on the Tet. Other foods include mung bean pudding, papaya salad, rice, stir-fried almonds etc. They also prepare traditional cakes called Banh day and Banh Chung. It is a round, flat rice cake that is a must to eat on the Tet.
Vietnamese also eat Mut on the Tet, which is nothing but a candied fruit. Mut comes under the snacks and not on the main course. Other regions of Vietnam serve dishes made of coconut milk and oil. Also, people eat pickled vegetables during the Tet as a part of their tradition. The dish is made of turnips, carrots, sprouts and leeks.
5. Exchanging Gifts
As a part of Vietnamese New Year 2025 Traditions, gifts are also exchanged between dear ones. Through gifts, people show their gratitude. Different gifts are exchanged between people and the most common gift is symbolic plants like peaches and kumquat. As they have a traditional connection to the festival, they are given as gifts by many people. People also give money to the children in red envelopes. Vietnamese wear bright colours on the Tet as they believe that they attract good fortune.
Also, people pray to their ancestors on Tet and offer their gratitude. They also visit the graves of their loved ones during Tet. If you are visiting Vietnam anytime soon make sure to remember their traditions and also follow them if you like. To read more interesting content like this, bookmark our website – NEWYEARWIKI.COM and stay connected.