CULTURAL AND ARTISTIC ACTIVITIES TO WELCOME NEW YEAR'S EVE, CELEBRATE LUNAR NEW YEAR

The Lunar New Year (also known as Tet Ca, Tet Ta, Lunar New Year, Traditional New Year or simply called Tet) is the most important and meaningful Lunar New Year celebration in Vietnam. "Tet" is the Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation of the word "tiết", "nguyên" in Chinese means the beginning and "đán" is early morning, so the correct pronunciation must be "Tiết Nguyên Đán" (Lunar New Year).

Vietnam's Lunar New Year is calculated according to the lunar calendar, later than the Solar New Year (or Western New Year). Due to the rule of 03 years with a leap month of the lunar calendar, the first day of the Lunar New Year is never before 21st January of the solar calendar and after 19th February of the solar calendar, but it usually falls in the middle of these days. The time of the annual Lunar New Year usually lasts between 07 -:- 08 days of the end of the old year and the first 07 days of the new year (23rd December to the end of 07 January).

Most information suggests that the Lunar New Year originated in China and was introduced to Vietnam in 1000 years of Northern domination. But according to the story "Bánh chưng bánh dày", Vietnamese people have been celebrating Tet since the Hung Kings, that is, before 1000 years of Northern domination.

For Vietnamese people, the Lunar New Year is not only a transition period between the old year and the new lunar year, but it also contains many spiritual and cultural meanings,... According to the Eastern concept, this is the time when heaven and earth are reconciled and people become close to the gods.

The old Lunar New Year was an occasion for farmers to pay their respects to gods such as Earth god, Rain god, Thunder god, Water god, Sun god, ... and pray for a year of good weather, abundant crops. 

Besides, this is also considered a "refreshing" day, a day for people to hope for a peaceful, prosperous and favorable new year for the whole year and put aside all bad luck in the old year. Therefore, on Tet holiday, every house is busy cleaning, shopping, and decorating the house beautifully. This is also an opportunity for people to renew emotionally and spiritually so that the relationship with their loved ones is closer, the spirit is more comfortable and joyful. During the Tet holiday, families often gather to wish New Year's Eve each other, burn incense sticks together in memory of their grandparents and ancestors, and thank them for their blessing over the past year.