Celebrating Vietnam’s Tet Holiday

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In this video we are looking back at the unforgettable experience we had during our Tet Holiday in Vietnam 3 years ago.
If you’re considering retiring overseas you’ll have opportunities to explore and engage in the country’s cultural Festivals and Holidays. This connection with the people will enrich your life, as it did for us when we revisited Vietnam.
Despite being seasoned travelers, we booked our flights without checking on the country’s holidays and found ourselves arriving in Ho Chi Minh City late in the evening before Tet! Everything we had read told us this was not a good time to visit but it turned out to be the highlight of our trip!
Because Tet is a time for families to celebrate together, people leave the cities and return to the countryside for about 10 days. So, for tourists, this is not the best time to sightsee. However, there is much to enjoy.

The Tet celebrations start on New Year’s Eve with amazing fireworks!
The city is festooned with lights and decorations. Unfortunately, we arrived too late in the evening to see the displays of fireworks which we heard were incredible.

Throughout the Tet holiday the streets are decorated with colorful trees - kumquat, yellow apricot and peach. Lanterns and beautiful flowers, many of them red representing good luck, are placed outside houses and businesses. There is a very special feeling about this Holiday – one of hope and joy and anticipation of good luck in the coming year.

One of the sites to visit in Ho Chi Minh City during Tet is the Nguyen Hue Flower Street. The entire street is filled with flower beds, hanging baskets and topiaries. The mascot of the year in 2018 was the Dog which was interspersed throughout the display. 2021 Zodiac sign is the Ox. Every flower you could think of - orchids, brilliant yellow chrysanthemums, red geraniums and many more are artistically displayed.

The Lion Dance is performed during New Year Celebrations as well as important events such as weddings, business opening events and religious ceremonies. The performers receive well-earned monetary gifts for their exceptional talents. To the sound of symbols clashing and drums beating, performers dressed as lions appear and, one after the other, jump up onto pedestals – some over 6ft high - and perform an acrobatic dance, sometimes with one person standing on the shoulders of another performer! It’s an amazing sight!

The Vietnamese people are extremely friendly and even thought the Tet Holiday is a time for people to honor their ancestors and welcome the New Year with family members they still take time to welcome and entertain friends. This happened to us and made us feel very special that they took time away from their own family festivities to welcome us back!

Although many businesses and restaurants are closed for 7 – 10 days during the Tet Holiday as people return to the countryside to celebrate the Holiday with their families, we had no problem finding excellent food at street markets and small restaurants. Also, on every corner in Ho Chi Minh City there are convenience stores where you can buy anything you need.

Traffic in Ho Chi Minh City is normally a nightmare but during Tet it is bearable! For a few blissful days pedestrians have the sidewalks to themselves! No need to avoid motorbikes parked on the sidewalks or try to avoid being run over by motorbike drivers racing on the sidewalks!