Vietnam Cultures
Holidays in Vietnam
Like Chinese, Vietnamese people follow the standard 12-month calendar, otherwise known as the Gregorian or solar calendar used in the West. However, most of Vietnam's small village fetes and holidays follow the traditional Chinese calendar, which has 355 days and adds a "leap month" every three years or so to keep up with the solar calendar. Following the Chinese lunar calendar means that most holidays correspond with full moon (on the 15th of each lunar month) or no moon (on the 1st); it also means that holidays fall on different calendar dates each year. For example: Tet, the Lunar New Year and Vietnam's biggest holiday, will be on February 3, 2011.
There is a variety of regional celebrations and local festivals among the ethnic majority Vietnamese. Add to that the many disparate holidays and practices of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups and you have holidays left and right; any rural trip means a good chance of stumbling onto something interesting. Vietnamese are inclusive about their celebrations; Tet, for example, is a family holiday, but a few shouts of Chuc Mung Nam Moi (Happy New Year!) usually mean getting swept up in the fervor. Surrender to it.
Be sure to ask around about market days in the Northern Highland areas -- when a big, traveling goods-market comes into town (usually Sun). Also look for the likes of modern city festivals, like the hugely popular Hue Festival. Below are the major national holidays and festivals.
January/February
Feb 3th. Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party. Nationwide. Celebrated everywhere; expect parade grounds in any city to be busy with cultural shows and speechmaking. Waving massive red flags in open-air shows in the evening is always the finale.
February 3, 2011. Vietnam Traditional Lunar New Year Festival (Tet Nguyen Dan): Countrywide. This 4-day national holiday, Tet, usually falls between January and February. The festivities begin on New Year's Eve and the first 3 days of a Lunar New Year, but most people celebrate for a week or more. It's a time to be with family members. For detailed information, see the box on Tet, below.
The first day of the first lunar month New Year's Day. All most every thing close, time for Family, still after Day 4th of lunar year More festival events keep going on in the Northern part of Vietnam
March/April
Festival at the Perfume Pagoda. Near Hanoi. Buddhists from all over Vietnam make a pilgrimage to the deep cave at the apex of this holy mountain at the half-moon of the second lunar month (March 23, 2008; March 11, 2009; March 30, 2010; March 19, 2011).
Hmong Spring Festival. In the far north. Hmong populations across the north converge for colorful parades and market days. Fifth day of the third lunar month (April 10, 2008; March 30, 2009; April 18, 2010; April 7, 2011).
Saigon Liberation Day. Celebrated nationwide with lots of parades and commemorative TV programming. April 30.
May
International Labor Day. The communist marching day around the world. Celebrations and parades in central squares nationwide. May Day, May 1.
Birthday of President Ho Chi Minh. Nationwide. Cultural performances and candlelight vigils are held across the country. The major sights in Vinh, Ho Chi Minh's birthplace, are overrun, and Hanoi's Citadel area, where Ho's body is held in state, is mobbed. May 19.
August/September/October
Imagine an American Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and Easter all rolled into one -- that's Tet. This megaholiday on the Vietnamese calendar is a time for pilgrimage to the family stamping grounds. Everyone, including the many young Vietnamese who have left the rice fields for work in the big cities, goes home (travel is a nightmare and best avoided). Food is the focus, and everyone hustles home to try Grandma's chung cakes -- a small square cake made of glutinous rice -- after a real feast of down-home cooking (regional variations are many). This is a time to honor ancestors; offerings of fruit and flowers, whole feasts even, are placed on family altars. The 23rd day of the 12th lunar month hosts a ceremony of farewell for last year's "Kitchen God." The 29th and 30th days are a time to say farewell to the old year and hello to the new, with all the fanfare and hoopla you can muster; streets are crowded with motorbikes and the rice wine and bia hoi (local draft beer) flows freely. Folks go a-visiting on the first day of the lunar new year, sharing food and fellowship among neighbors. Tet is also a celebration of Vietnamese strength and autonomy. On the fifth day of the Tet holiday, people raise a glass (or two) to freedom fighter Quang Trung, who defeated the Chinese at Dong Da near Hanoi, and spurned them on with cries of: "And then we'll go home for some of Grandma's chung cakes!" Bonsai!
National Day. Celebrates the rise of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Local parades, pomp, and circumstance. September 2.
Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival. Near Haiphong. A riot for everyone (except the buffalos). The ninth day of the eighth lunar month (September 8, 2008; September 27, 2009; September 16, 2010; September 6, 2011).
Mid-Autumn Festival. Nationwide. This colorful celebration is a popular one for kids, with dance and special sweet cakes. Half-moon of the eighth lunar month (September 12, 2011).
December
Christmas. Nationwide, but most widely celebrated in the south where Christian populations are largest. Although Vietnam's recent plunge into capitalism means more and more American style Santa-focused decorations and shopping in the major cities, you can still expect some Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh style. December 25.
Tet Vietnam Lunar New Year
Vietnamese consider Tet is the national holiday that lasts for three days. However, in practice it can be longer and divided into three periods, before New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, and the New Year. All of these phases consist of activities and customs are celebrated in Vietnam.
Before New Year's Eve is a period begins one or two weeks before the actual celebration. There are many things to do such as clean and decorate the houses, try to pay all debts or everything borrowed before Tet, buy new clothes and presents for our relatives...
The general atmosphere leading up to Tet is in the bustle of shopping, decorating the house, cooking traditional Tet food and waiting for relatives to return home. In these days, the streets and markets are full of people because a lot of commercial activity will cease during the celebrations; the color Red, symbolizing good luck and happiness is seen everywhere.
To decorate the house, Vietnamese people often display Ochna integerrima, peach flower, kumquat tree…in the living room depending on locality. However, some people also decorate their homes with bonsai and flower plants such as chrysanthemum, marigold symbolizing longevity, in Southern Vietnam and paper white flower, lavender, in Northern Vietnam.
Food preparation plays a major role in Tet celebration. Each family cooks special holiday foods showing the importance of food in its celebration. Some of the food is also eaten year-round, while other dishes are only eaten during Tet. Also, some of the food is vegetarian since it is believed to be good luck to eat vegetarian on Tet. Some traditional foods on Tet are sticky rice (Banh chung), watermelon seeds (Hat dua), pickled onion and pickled cabbage (Dua Hanh), jam… Preparations for these foods are quite extensive.
A host of worship rituals also occur in this period. As the legend goes, each year on December 23 of the lunar calendar, the Kitchen God takes a ride on a carp to the Heavenly Palace to make a report on the affairs of the household on earth and then returns on December 30 to welcome the New Spring. So Vietnamese people often prepare an altar consist of incense, flowers, fruits, and foods to say farewell the Kitchen God. Sticky rice and salt are also offered in the streets to any hungry ghosts who might be wandering in the neighborhood.
These Tet preparations often finish before New Year's Eve. It is the comfortable and interesting time for everyone when finishing Tet preparation, paying all debts or everything borrowed before Tet. It is also the time all members in family gather to enjoy atmosphere of family reunion including deceased ancestors. Vietnamese believe that their deceased ancestors will visit the family for the holiday through worship of inviting the Ancestors. So they prepare a sumptuous meal to welcome back the ancestors with a worship altar consist of flowers, fruits, candles, incense sticks and foods. Towards the end of the ritual, they will dutifully burn beautifully decorated paper tunics and clothes and even symbolic paper money - items which our ancestors will need in Heaven.
In the New Year’s Eve, Vietnamese people often prepare the closely family dinner, celebrate New Year’s Eve worship (Cung giao thua) and wait for the sacred moment of the passage from the old to the New Year by viewing sparkling firework.
The beginning of Tet starts on the first day of the lunar month. Traditionally, in the early morning of the first day, Buddhists go to their favorite pagoda; the Catholics go to a pre-midnight mass to pray for happiness, prosperity for their family in the New Year. There is also a tradition called “mung tuoi” (happy new year) in the north and “li xi” in the south. Usually, children wear their new clothes and give their elders the traditional Tet greetings before receiving a red envelope.
Vietnamese people believe that the first person comes to their houses on the New Year Day, who is called the first-foot is very important. They will bring good luck or bad luck for the New Year, so people usually choose who will be their first – foot.
In these days, people try to avoid arguments, or saying any bad things. Sweeping is taboo, since it symbolizes sweeping the luck away. It is also taboo for anyone who experienced a recent loss of a family member to visit anyone else during Tết.
During subsequent days, people visit relatives and friends. Traditionally but not strictly, the second day of Tet is usually reserved for friends, while the third day is for teachers, who command respect in Vietnam.
Vietnamese Tet has quite a few original practices with customs and entertainment that have distinct Vietnamese cultural characteristics. Even though being anywhere in the world, Vietnamese people always remember and keep these customs on Tet holiday. In the framework of this article, a few customs and practices are presented so that readers can better understand the traditional Tet of Vietnam.
Vietnamese Culture
The most important festival of the year is Tet, a week-long event in late January or early February that heralds the new lunar year and the advent of spring. Celebration consists of both raucous festivity (fireworks, drums, gongs) and quiet meditation. In addition to Tet, there are about twenty other traditional and religious festivals each year.
Vietnamese architecture expresses a graceful aesthetic of natural balance and harmony that is evident in any of the country’s vast numbers of historic temples and monasteries. The pre-eminent architectural form is the pagoda, a tower comprised of a series of stepped pyramidal structures and frequently adorned with lavish carvings and painted ornamentation. Generally speaking, the pagoda form symbolizes the human desire to bridge the gap between the constraints of earthly existence and the perfection of heavenly forces. Pagodas are found in every province of Vietnam. One of the most treasured is the Thien Mu Pagoda in Hue, founded in 1601 and completed more than two hundred years later. In North Vietnam, the pagodas that serve as the shrines and temples of the Son La mountains are especially worth visiting. In South Vietnam, the Giac Lam Pagoda of Ho Chi Minh City is considered to be the city’s oldest and is notable as well for its many richly-carved jackwood statues.
As a language, Vietnamese is exceptionally flexible and lyrical, and poetry plays a strong role in both literature and the performing arts. Folk art, which flourished before French colonization, has experienced a resurgence in beautiful woodcuts, village painting, and block printing. Vietnamese lacquer art, another traditional medium, is commonly held to be the most original and sophisticated in the world. Music, dance, and puppetry, including the uniquely Vietnamese water puppetry, are also mainstays of Vietnam culture.
Although rice is the foundation of the Vietnamese diet, the country’s cuisine is anything but bland. Deeply influenced by the national cuisines of France, China, and Thailand, Vietnamese cooking is highly innovative and makes extensive use of fresh herbs, including lemon grass, basil, coriander, parsley, laksa leaf, lime, and chili. Soup is served at almost every meal, and snacks include spring rolls and rice pancakes. The national condiment is nuoc mam, a piquant fermented fish sauce served with every meal. Indigenous tropical fruits include bananas, pineapples, coconuts, lychees, melons, mandarin oranges, grapes, and exotic varieties like the three-seeded cherry and the green dragon fruit.
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Holidays in Vietnam
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