If you ask me about a famous festival in Vietnam, I will definitely talk about Tet Holiday, which is also known as Lunar New Year holiday in Vietnam.

It usually occurs at the end of January and lasts for 3 days. Tet holiday in Vietnam is usually in honor of the departure of the previous year and an occasion to welcome the new year with many blessings. On Tet holiday, we will have family unions to catch up with each other. Besides, some families enjoy this festival by preparing traditional food such as Vietnamese square cake, dried candied fruit, braised pork and eggs, etc. and decorating the house with parallel sentences and peach or apricot blossoms. Especially, for children, I think they look forward to Tet holiday because they can receive lucky money from adults as a way to give them wishes for the new year. For adults, it is an occasion on which they are able to do the spring cleaning and make appetizing food to worship the ancestors.

I would say in this days and age, Tet has lost its original spirit and most adults treat it as a normal holiday in which they can have 2 weeks off to blow off some steam and release stress. However, to me, Tet holiday is still a distinct festival of Vietnam. Whenever this holiday comes, I feel a strong sense of belonging because it reminds me of how diverse our culture can be with different rituals and food. Moreover, I think if Tet holiday didn’t exist, many family members would drift apart due to the hustle and bustle of life. However, since we have Tet, everyone will have at least one or two days to have family gatherings and tighten the bonds with other members.