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Tet Festival 2012: 

About Vietnamese Tet Culture

Tết means holiday in Vietnamese.  There are many holidays in Vietnamese culture, such as Tết Đoan Ngọ, Tết Trung Thu, Tết Nguyên Đán, etc.  However, Tết Nguyên  Đán which is more commonly known by its shortened name Tết or “Vietnamese Lunar New Year” is the most important, most popular and most festive holiday in Vietnam.  Although Tết occurs on the first day of the Lunar New Year, its celebration starts 7 days before which coincide with the date where according to folk plays, the Kitchen God (ông Táo) is going to heaven at the end of the year to report the family’s situation with the King of Heaven ( NgọcHoàng).

Vietnamese people prepare for Tết by doing many traditional customs such as visiting the ancestor graves (đi thăm mộ) or visiting Temples to pray for prosperity and good health; visiting relatives to give them New Year’s greetings and presenting them with gifts; giving lucky money in red envelope to children (lì xì); cooking special traditional holiday food such as bánh mứt, bánh chưng, bánh tét, thịt kho, dưa giá…etc, for relatives and friends.  At Tết, family members often get together at their hometown and every house is usually decorated with hoa mai  (Ochna Integerrima) or hoa đào (Peach Flower).

Tết is celebrated by all Vietnamese, at home or abroad.  Although different areas of the country might have a slightly different customs, the meanings are always the same.  Below are some of the most common customs practiced during Tet:

--Say Goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new year (Đưa năm cũ đi, đón năm mới đến):  Home are cleaned to get rid of bad fortune associated with the old year.  Families clean their houses  towelcoming the new year, forgetting about the troubles of the past year and hoping for a better upcoming year.

--Polite and Respectful Behaviors (Giữ Gìn Ý Tứ Hạnh Kiểm):  During the celebration of Tết, everyone practice good behavior.  Adult are extremely polite to each other, even to strangers.  Children are taught not to cry or fight.

--Crackers Firing (Đốt Pháo):  This is used to be one of the most important items during Tet celebration.  At exactly midnight before the New Year (also known as Giao Thừa), fire crackers are lit up in front of the house to welcoming the New Year.  The smell of fire crackers combined with the smell of the burned incense and the hope the new beginning are the true meanings of Tet.  Nowadays, due to numerous accidents which killed many people, the use of fire cracker has been banned.  Therefore, Tet will never be the same without this old custom.

--Dragon Dance (Múa Lân):  One of the most fun and excited activity during the New Year is the Dragon Dance.  This event are widely enjoyed by young children and adults as well.

--Fun Games:  Some of the popular and unique games are played during this time, including bầu cua cá cọp, cờ tướng, chèo thuyền, chọi trâu, đá gà, leo cột mở...etc. They also participate in some competitions presenting their knowledge, strength and aestheticism, such as the bird competition and ngâm thơ competition.

--Ancestral Worshipping (Cúng Bái):  On New Year’s Eve, the head of the family will present a food plate with rice and other dishes to the family altar to pay respect to the family ancestors.  This worshipping act will occur for the next 3 days in which the family members believe their ancestors are there to celebrate the New Year with them.  

--Plant New Year’s tree (trồng Cây Nêu): During Tết, Vietnamese families plant an artificial New Year’s tree called Cây Nêu in front of their homes.  A bamboo pole is often use as Cây Nêu.  All the leaves are removed from the tree so that it can be wrapped or decorated by good luck red paper.  Legends have it that the red color scares off evil spirits.  On the seventh (last day) of Tet, Cây Nêu is taken down. This is the last ritual of the New Year celebration. 

--Visiting Relatives and Friends (Xông Nhà):  According to Vietnamese tradition, if good things come to the family on the first day of the lunar New Year, the entire following year will also be full of blessings. Usually, a person of good temper, morality and success will be the lucky sign for the host family and be invited first into the house.

--New Year Greetings (Chúc Tết): The traditional greetings are "chúc mừng năm mới" (Happy New Year) and "cung chúc tân xuân" (gracious wishes of the new spring). People also wish each other prosperity and luck. Common wishes for Tết include:  

·         Sống lâu trăm tuổi (Long life of 100 years)

·         An khang thịnh vượng (Security, good health, and prosperity)

·         Vạn sự như ý (May myriad things go according to your will)

·         Sức khỏe dồi dào (Plenty of health)

·         Cung hỉ phát tài, (Congratulations and be prosperous)

·         Tiền vô như nước (May money flow in like water)

There are many other customs associated with the New Year celebration.  The items listed above are only a few widely practice customs.  Currently, some of these customs have been modified some what to accommodate the living situation, especially for the people living abroad.  Instead of actually preparing the holiday foods, people might now just purchase them from the stores.  Phone calls are replacing the actual physical visitation during the holidays.  Although these customs might not be fully practice due to the changing life style, there are things that will never changed and always remain true:  the love for family members, friends and neighbors; appreciation for the ancestors; family members helping each other; and the hope for a new and better new year.

With the purpose of maintaining and keeping these wonderful customs, the Vietnamese Community in Oregon often organize New Year Festival (Hội Chợ Tết) so that the Vietnamese people in Oregon could get together and celebrate the coming of the New Year in the beautiful City of Portland. Perhaps while celebrating and missing our country, we will find some warm and comfort in each other in the cold of winter, away from home…

This year, to celebrate the Year of the Dragon (Tết Nhâm Thìn) the Tết festival will be held at the Oregon Convention Center on the 4^th of Febuary, 2012.  Please come and join us to welcome the New Year. 

This year VNCO will also offer FREE Health Fair for everyone and FREE Tax Filing for low income families at Tết Festival. Please join us.

Honored Volunteers in various organizations in the Vietnamese Community of Oregon

CỘNG ĐỒNG VIỆT NAM OREGON VIETNAMESE COMMUNITY OF OREGON P.O.BOX 55416 Portland, OR 97238 www.congdongvietnamoregon.org | www.facebook.com/vncousa Phone: (503) 484-6728