If there’s one thing that best represents Vietnamese cultural identity, it is Tet. The term is a phonetic anamorphosis of “Tiet” which is a Sino-Vietnamese word meaning “joint of a bamboo stern.” But in a deeper and more meaningful way, the term signifies the “beginning of a period of the year.” It is the biggest, longest and most popular festival in Vietnam, a grand homecoming for everyone to be with their respective families to relax and eat delicious food after a full year of hard work. It is also a thanksgiving celebration for the gods for bringing in spring after the dreaded winter. Moreover, since it is the onset of a new year, it is a chance for people to prepare and maintain good values which will ensure prosperity and good luck for the rest of the year.

The Vietnamese New Year is regarded as the most important since it marks the start of the Lunar New Year. This occurs somewhere between the last ten days of January or the first 20 days of February, or halfway between winter solstice and spring equinox. It usually lasts up to seven days, but in some occasions, even nine. This year, Tet will fall on February 19, 2015 and will celebrate the year of the Goat.

According to Eastern belief, the Goat year of 2015 will bring about tranquility and cooperation, something most Vietnamese very much look forward to.

There are several specific Tet customs which devout followers religiously obey during this long-term event:

1.    Clean and decorate the house. This is a custom which the Vietnamese people strictly follow in a belief that it will drive away the bad fortune brought about by the past year and bring in good luck in the new. The kitchen needs to be cleaned before the 23^rd night of the last month. The head of the household is in charge of cleaning the dust and ashes from the incense of the ancestral altars, while the children have the responsibility of sweeping and scrubbing the floor.  

2.    Get new clothes. This is the favourite custom of the children because their parents buy them new clothes and shoes for the New Year. The new apparel is brought one month before the festival and must be worn only on the first day of the New Year.  

.     Ong Tao. This is done seven days before Tet wherein each family offers a farewell ceremony to Ong Tao, kitchen gods who are believed to go to heaven to make an annual report to the Jade Emperor about the activities of the family throughout the year.

.     Giao Thua. Literally meaning “passage from the old to the new year,” Giao Thua or New Year’s Eve is the turning over of the reign of the old chief (Water Buffalo) and passing it over to the new.  

.     Xong Dat. This pertains to the first guest who will visit and greet the household with New Year tidings. He or she is hoped to have a good aura (well-educated, well-respected, successful, dignified, etc.) to supposedly spread it to the home in the coming year.    

6.   Apricot and Peach flowers. Signify new beginnings. Hoa Mai is the yellow apricot flower native to Southern Vietnam because of the warm weather. Hoa Dao is the pink peach blossom which is conducive to the dry and cold environment of the Northern region.   

7.    Red envelopes. These are small red envelopes filled up with money and usually given by adults to the young people in hopes of good luck and wealth. But aside from the monetary exchange, the older generation is also expected to guide and help the youth by giving good advice, words of wisdom, encouragement, and overall lessons on how to go through life.    

8.    Offering to ancestors. Practiced on the first day of the New Year before noon wherein the head of the household again performs a ritual of offering wine, cakes, fruits and incense to the ancestors to invite them to join in the celebration of the New Year.   

Tet is celebrated through a strict process of activities spread out through the seven days celebration:

1.     Ong Cong, Ong Tao Day (Kitchen God Day)

2.     Wrapping Chung Cake

3.     Family reunion and Tat Nien

4.     Giao Thua (New Year’s Eve, including prayer sessions to the gods and ancestors) and Xong Dat

5.     First three days of the New Year:

·         First Day – visit paternal side

·         Second Day – visit maternal side

·         Third Day – visit teachers

6.     Visit relatives, friends and neighbours

7.     Hoa Vang (burning the offerings for the ancestors near the time or day when Tet is about to end)

8.     Reopen business – usually on the date which matches the owner’s age

9.     Tet Nguyen Tieu

As in all traditional gatherings, there are customary foods that are always present and in fact anticipated. Banh Chung or Banh Tet is the most important Tet food, sticky rice cake accompanied with pork meat and green bean and wrapped in a special leaf called Dong. The process of making Banh Chung is quite tedious that is why it is looked forward to in the festival. Other traditional Tet foods are Mung Bean pudding, Gio Cha or Vietnamese sausage, Xoi Gac or red sticky rice, boiled chicken, pickled onions and roasted nuts and seeds.

Other time-honored activities decorations during Tet area painting, story telling, plate of five fruits, parallel sentences and the New Year tree.

More than the food, decorations and activities, it is a time of honoring the ancestors and being with one’s family to start a new year of renewal and purity that will hopefully carry on for the rest of the year.