Vietnam has many traditional and religious holidays, but none can be compared with new year’s festival, Tet Nguyen Dan, or in short Tet. Tet has become so familiar, so sacred that when spring arrives, the Vietnamese, where ever they maybe, are all thrilled and excited with the advent of Tet. They feel an immense nostalgia, wishing to comeback for a family reunion and taste the particular flavors of their homeland.

Usually, the first signs of the impending holiday show of a month before Tet. Workmen start building stalls near the market to sale holiday items such as candied fruit, decorations, flowers and green melons. Prices for everything begin to rise. Houses and buildings get a new paint. People buy new clothes and exchange gifts.

Apricot blossoms are reputed  to keep demons out of their home during this time, and it’s auspicious if the branched bloom on the first morning of Tet, therefore, so much care is given in picking just the right branches. Some wealthy families even buy an entire apricot tree and decorate it. Family gather and making the traditional ‘Banh chung’, the cake of sticky rice, green bean and pork, which is a must on Tet. Traditionally, no cooking is done during three days holiday, so all food must be prepared beforehand. At midnight on new year’s eve, a ceremony called ‘Giao thua’  is held in which a sacrifice for the spirits and the ancestors is made on a lovely candle-lit altar in the open air near the home. After this, the family may go to the pagoda. There, they place incense before the altar and pray for the prosperity of a new year. When they leave the pagoda, they may break up some new buds from a plant or tree and place it on the top of a column at their home on returning. This symbolized good luck

The next morning, the family arises early and dresses in their new clothes. Dishes of special food are prepared to be placed on the family altar for the ancestors. This will be repeated twice daily until Tet is over. Everyone offers each other new year’s wishes and the children are giving lucky red envelope containing money.

During Tet festival, all stores are closed and businesses are interrupted for at least three days. On the fourth day, life regains it normalcy.