Oldest Bonsai
Vietnam Cultures by Truong Minh Quang
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 Vietnammake 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
Tet Trung Nguyen. Nationwide. A time to give thanks to the ancestors. Families gather, remember those who have died, eat, and visit grave sites. Half-moon of the seventh lunar month (August 15, 2008; September 3, 2009; August 24, 2010; August 14, 2011).
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
Tet is the most important and popular holiday and festival in Vietnam which is around late January or early February, depends on each year. It is also an occasion for family reunions and forgetting about the troubles of the past year and hoping for a better upcoming year. This custom has become sacred and secular and, therefore, no matter where they are or whatever the circumstances, family members find ways to come back to meet their loved ones.
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 treeâ
