Vietnam Tet Holiday 2025 – Exploring The Unique Customs Of Vietnam’s New Year!

Vietnam Tet Holiday or Lunar New Year, is the biggest and most significant celebration in almost all Asian countries, and Vietnam is no exception. During this time, every family across Vietnam reunites and honors their ancestors to show respect to them. Furthermore, each member prays for luck, propensity, and health for themselves and their family.

If you have a plan to visit Vietnam during the Vietnam Tet holiday, we hope this blog will show you a travel guide that is useful and supportive for you on your upcoming trip.

Light, Laugh, and Culture – Immerse Yourself In The Dynamic Atmosphere Of Vietnam Tet Holiday

1. Meaning of Tet Holiday

Tet Nguyen Dan is the most meaningful in Vietnam for some reasons. The phrase “Nguyen Dan” is a Chinese noun. People recognized what a year was after primitive times, according to ancient records; thus “Nguyen Dan” is the first morning of the year. Therefore, Tet is the start of a year, a month, a season, and a new agricultural production cycle. The meaning of the Vietnam Tet holiday always has positive sides.

Tet is a time for Vietnamese people to congregate and reunite with family. Children and grandchildren who work far away attempt to return home to celebrate Tet with their families, no matter how busy they are. Everyone attempts to finish their work and pay off their obligations before Tet so that they can welcome the new year in peace and happiness.

2. What to do in Vietnam Tet Holiday 2025?

2.1 Getting Ready

Preparations for Tet are supposed to be exceedingly active throughout Vietnam, when everyone’s house is busy cleaning the house, eliminating all the sad and unlucky items from the previous year, and scrubbing the graves of ancestors to show off. Respect your ancestors and wish for good fortune in the coming year. Furthermore, residences will be decked with a variety of brightly colored items, such as red or yellow, to represent the features of Tet. Another unique feature is that improving oneself, such as changing your hair or purchasing new clothes, is regarded as a means to revitalize yourself in preparation for the new year.

2.2 Shopping List in Lunar New Year In Vietnam

Aside from new attire, shopping for Tet products such as candies, coconut jam, ginger jam, melon seeds, and so on is essential. These are things that are required throughout the holidays. Tet is more significant in Vietnam than in many other countries since it is a time when friends and relatives assemble to celebrate the first days of the year and reflect on the previous year. Therefore,  beer, coke, and alcoholic drinks are also purchased to preserve at home

2.3 Vietnam Tet Holiday Cooking

Every Vietnam Tet holiday, marketplaces, supermarkets, and sellers will close to celebrate Tet, making it impossible for us to purchase groceries, even everyday meals. As a result, in the days preceding Tet, we must spend some time shopping for and preparing the items needed to produce Tet meals. Dry foods such as dried bamboo shoots, onions, garlic, eggs, spring rolls, and so on must be prepared. Furthermore, fresh meals such as pig, poultry, beef, and so on, as well as green vegetables, are available. We should also make traditional Tet meals like pickled onions, banh chung, banh tet, sausages, etc.

In addition, we can prepare more types of salted meat, beef jerky, chicken jerky, etc. to enjoy with the family in the early days of the new year

2.4 “Happy New Year” at the beginning of the year

Happy New Year at the beginning of the year is an indispensable custom during Tet for Vietnamese people. Whether it’s Tet in the past or now, this has always been a beautiful custom for many generations. People often wish each other good things on Tet days to pray for a prosperous and successful new year. Another special thing during Tet is the lucky money. Lucky money will be put into red envelopes, symbolizing prosperity as well as praying for peace

2.5 Praying for peace at the Pagoda

On the first day of the year, most families choose to go to the pagoda to pray for peace at the beginning of the year, as if asking their ancestors to bless them for a peaceful new year, good health, smooth work, and stable finances.
In addition, the custom of picking fortune at the beginning of the year is also a very beautiful custom among Vietnamese people on the first day of the year. The trees chosen to pick buds at the beginning of the year are usually lush year-round trees with the symbolic meaning of bringing buds and fertility home.

2.6 Experience games in Tet Holiday

Tet is not only an opportunity for the whole family to reunite but also a time for everyone to gather and play interesting games, full of laughter. Some of the following games give you many options for entertainment in the new year.

Sailing – a specific traditional Tet game: Sailing is a game that has appeared for a long time in Vietnam. Not only is it a folk game, but it is also considered a form of performing rituals with the water god. Accordingly, each racing boat is hung with flags and decorated with different colors. When the signal is given, the competing teams use all their strength to row the boat, trying to get the boat to the finish line first to win

Bai Choi: Bai Choi is an intangible cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO in 2003. This is a game that mostly appears during Tet among people in the Central region. People play cards at the beginning of spring both to have fun and entertainment with their families and neighbors and to pray for luck and fortune at the beginning of the year. The duration of the Bai Choi varies from short to long, sometimes only within three days of Tet but can also last until the full moon of the first month and until the second month of the lunar calendar.

3. Best place to visit in Vietnam Tet Holiday 2025?

Tet takes place in every street in Vietnam, and everyone is busy to welcome a prosperous new year. Every place on the S-shaped strip of land has its own Tet custom. However, we will introduce to you the best places to visit in Tet Holiday 2025 spread across 3 regions so you can better understand Tet customs in each place.

3.1 Ha Noi

Ha Noi is one of the best places to visit during the Vietnam Tet Holiday, and we want to recommend it to tourists. Hanoi, with a thousand-year history of civilization, is the capital and one of the major economic centers of the country. Therefore, the Lunar New Year in Hanoi also has a very unique color; traditional and modern features intermingle harmoniously in the heart of the capital. These days, all 36 old streets are decorated splendidly, with vendors selling all kinds of goods to serve people during Tet. On these days, many Hanoi people go to the street to ask for the first letter of the year from the teacher “Do”, as they wish the whole year to be filled with luck, peace, and prosperity for themselves and their families.

3.2 Hue

After exploring all 36 streets of Hanoi together, let’s go to the poetic ancient capital of Hue to see what’s special about the people here.

Because of the influence of many ancestral elements from ancient times, Hue still retains many traditional cultural features, especially the traditional Tet rituals. Right from the beginning of December, Hue people have been busy cleaning the ancestral altar with traditional items such as Thanh Thien confetti, five-colored explosive seeds, banh chung,… In addition, all the bowls The incense on the ancestral altar must be replaced with new sand to show respect as well as signal the arrival of a new year. There’s nothing better than going to the temple on the morning of the first day of Tet with your family to pray for a smooth and prosperous new year. Tet days are free entry and exit days for visitors and locals to the Hue Imperial Citadel since the government opens the gates for free entry to the public on these days

3.3 Da Nang

Also, a central province, Da Nang’s Tet customs are similar to Hue’s. If you have the opportunity to come to Da Nang during Tet, you will see the image of every Da Nang person’s house having pots of yellow chrysanthemums blooming in front of each house. Not only that, the streets of Da Nang are also filled with colorful flowers that highlight the entire region. More specifically, on these days, you should go to Dragon Bridge to see the scene of fire and water spraying right on the bridge from the giant dragon’s head as if to welcome a prosperous new year. That is why Da Nang is considered the best place to travel during Tet. Tourists will have sparkling check-in photos when traveling to Da Nang during this Tet

3.4 Hoi An

Only about 30 kilometers from Da Nang, we find a lyrical and tranquil Hoi An. However, this is only partially true because Tet is the busiest season in Hoi An. Because after a year of learning and working hard, everyone travels to this old city to rest and have fun. When you visit Hoi An during Tet, you can enjoy the beautiful and poetic splendor of the Hoai River while floating on a boat. Visitors will have photographs of the shining moments of Hoi An at night on festival days. Don’t forget that there are many other intriguing things to do in Hoi An if you choose it as your next holiday destination

3.5 Ho Chi Minh

Can you guess what’s different about Tet in Ho Chi Minh City compared to other places? Why do we consider Ho Chi Minh City the best place to visit during the Vietnam Tet holiday?

Regarding Tet customs, every region is the same, but in terms of Tet fun, Ho Chi Minh is quite different when people here choose apricot trees to display in their homes on Tet instead of choosing peaches and kumquats like other places because they watch them. The Apricot is a beautiful flower that brings fortune and luck. In addition, the apricot tree is also known for a story related to a beautiful girl who loves her parents and family.

So if you travel to Ho Chi Minh City during Tet, where should you go? Tet is indispensable for flowers, so Tet in Ho Chi Minh City is always filled with the colors of all kinds of flowers. Enjoy Tet with friends and family on Nguyen Hue walking street, where many flower fairs are held with many unique performances such as flower offering ceremonies, fruit and vegetable arrangements, or art. flower arrangements.

4. Vietnam Tet Holiday: Do and Don’t

Not only Vietnam but also other Eastern countries have the same rules about what they should and should not do on the first day of the lunar year to avoid a bad year. During Tet, this is a wonderful belief among Vietnamese people. These are some things that travelers should and should not do when visiting Vietnam during the Vietnam Tet Holiday to have the most beautiful and engaging experiences possible.

4.1 Things to do in Vietnam Tet holiday

• Go to the temple to pray for peace all year.
• Wear new, brightly colored clothes.
• Happy and smiling for a prosperous new year.
• Say “Happy New Year” or “Chuc mung nam moi” in Vietnamese to everyone around you.
• If you have the opportunity to visit a local person’s house during Tet, remember to prepare lucky money and put it in a red envelope to celebrate the coming of age for children and the elderly.

4.2 Things to don’t in Vietnam Tet Holiday

• Avoid breaking things.
• Don’t argue; blame loudly.
• Do not cry or be sad on the first day of the year because, according to Vietnamese custom, if you cry on the first day of the year, you will cry and be sad all year.
• Avoid saying unlucky things on Tet days because doing so will attract unlucky energy to yourself.
• Avoid eating unlucky foods such as squid, duck meat, balut,…

Vietnam Tet Holiday is not only a good traditional holiday for the Vietnamese people but also has an impact on the spiritual lives of the people here. We hope visitors will have a complete and happy trip with family and friends when choosing our services. If you are interested in tours of the tour locations we mentioned above, you can get more information here.

Vietnam Package Tours – VM Travel

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