The population across Vietnam are getting ready to celebrate Tết.
Tết, or Vietnamese New Year, is a huge event in the calendar. The full name is Tết Nguyên Đán, which translates to ‘feast of the first morning of the first day’. Also known as the Lunar New Year, it is celebrated on the 29 January and holds significance in Vietnamese culture.
Over this annual holiday people across the country take time off work. This year is the tenth zodiac animal the rooster known for their organisation skills in the home. This is appropriate since Tết is a time when families and friends gather and prepare by cleaning the home. Plus they ensure that there is sufficient food especially for the event. Popular foods include sticky rice, dried young bamboo soup, bánh chưng and bánh dày.
It is a time for families to gather and look forward to the next year, however momentum for Tết gathers well ahead of the actual date of New Year. Beforehand the Kitchen God travels to heaven to report back on the events of the previous year.
Aside from eating, other traditions over Tết include ancestor worship, wishing New Year’s greetings and visiting friend’s houses on the first day of the New Year. Paper creations are made for those relatives who have passed away. Incense sticks are lit on alters at midnight to request that God and relatives who have passed away to join them in spirit during this celebration.
The head of the household selects one person to invite them into their home. Considered to be a particularly special part of the event, it is believed that should you have good luck on New Year’s day, then this will be retained for the whole of the year.
Marking the first day of spring, Tết is also referred to as Spring Festival. However the event is primarily a time for friends and families to gather.
