Handbook for the Tết Season

This content is a part of the project
Tết in the States 2025 | Program at DAR & NMAA Museums

What’s Tết,
you ask?

Tết, or Tết Nguyên Đán (which translates to “the festival of the first sun”), is the most important Vietnamese festival.

Arriving in between late January and early February, it kicks off spring and brings in hope and good vibes for the new year.

Just like the holiday season in the U. S., Tết in Vietnam is more than just a few days — it’s a whole festive season!

The festivities start with one’s family (by paying respects to both living and deceased family members). Then, it’s time to hang out with friends, visit acquaintances and participate in community events.

How long does the Tết season last?

For many, the Tết season kicks off at the beginning of the Twelfth Month (on the lunisolar calendar) when everyone starts preparing for the holiday.

The first three days of the New Year, when you celebrate with your family, are the most important.

But the festive season rolls on until the Third Month, with local and national festivals taking place everywhere.

Back in the day, the starting of the summer crop signaled the grand finale of the Tết festivities.

Timeline of Tết

Twelfth Month | 23rd day

Kitchen Deities Ceremony
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Twelfth Month | 24th – 29th days

Getting Ready for Tết
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Twelfth Month | a few last days

Year-End Reunion Feast
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First Month | 1st – 3rd days

New Year Ceremony
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First Month | 15th day

First Full Moon Festival
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Third Month | 3rd day

Spring Promenade
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Twelfth Month | 23rd day

Kitchen Deities Ceremony (Cúng Ông Bà Táo)

This ceremony is about honoring and sending off the Kitchen Deities to the Heavenly Court. The deities will report everything the family has done over the past year to the Jade Emperor.

In Vietnamese culture, the hearth is seen as the heart of the home. It brings life to the house and its members, whether through a spiritual life force or by providing actual food.

Therefore, the Kitchen Deities are considered important household deities who take care of the family.

Twelfth Month | 24th – 29th days

Getting Ready for Tết

Preparation for Tết

It’s time to tidy up and decorate both your house and the ancestral “house” (i.e. their graves), shop for new things to use in the New Year, and make traditional Tết dishes.

Giving gifts to your loved ones

These gifts are usually decorations, clothes or food. The food is supposed to be served in holiday feasts or treat guests.

Twelfth Month |a few last days

Year-End Reunion Feast (Tiệc Tất Niên Đoàn Viên)

The last feast of the old year is all about bringing family members together, both those in the spiritual and mortal worlds. It is to honor and remember ancestors while also catching up and bonding with living relatives.

First, the feast is offered to the ancestors to invite them to celebrate Tết with the family.

Then, everyone enjoys the food together. During this time, family members share stories about their loved ones, both those who have passed away and those who are present.

Family cuisine traditions also help bring everyone closer together. These shared memories and tastes create a special bond among family members.

First Month | 1st – 3rd days

New Year Ceremony (Tết Nguyên Đán)

The Spring Welcome Altar Display by Vietnam Society
Lunar New Year 2024
Spring Greeting Altar

This special altar isn’t permanent — it’s set up on the last day of the old year to welcome the new one. Placed outside under the open sky, it symbolizes a connection between heaven and earth.

At the first moment of the Lunar New Year, the head of the family lights three incense sticks and a pair of candles, bringing light and warmth to the Spring Welcome Altar. This act is meant to invite brightness and happiness into the household for the year ahead.

The altar also serves as a sacred space, uniting family members, both living and departed, during the three days of Tết.

On the Spring Greeting Altar, you also find a vase of fresh flowers, a tray of various fruits and food offerings, representing fruitful prosperity and blooming happiness.

Celebrating Tết with family

The first three days of the New Year are all about celebrating with family.

During these days, family members also visit each other’s home or make phone call to wish their loved ones a happy new year.

The older relatives give the younger ones lucky money in red envelopes, and the younger ones wish the elders good health and prosperity.

Each day, the family offers a meal to the ancestors. The meal could be anything from a simple dish to a big feast, depending on the family’s preferences.

On the 3rd day, the meal offered to the ancestors is a way of saying goodbye to them.

First Month | 15th day

First Full Moon Festival (Rằm Nguyên Tiêu)

We already celebrated the first sun. Of course, we can’t skip the first full moon.

For Vietnamese people, if the first Sun has the power to deliver prosperity into the new year, then the first full Moon has the magic to usher in creative and romantic fulfillments.

Therefore, the First Full Moon festival is all about arts and love, the gentle beautiful things in life.

for the artistic souls

Many artistic folks look for inspiration or enjoy their favorite works of art, be it a song, a painting, or a poem.

for those in love

Young people at the festival make wishes to Mister Thread and Madam Moon (Ông Tơ Bà Nguyệt), hoping their love dreams will come true. Some use the chance to meet new people and see if they find someone special, while others spend time with their crushes, hoping to spark a romance.

Couples also pray to the deities, hoping for everlasting happiness in their romantic and familial relationships.

Third Month | 3rd day

Spring Promenade (Hội Đạp Thanh)

The Spring Promenade is part of the Festival of Light (Tết Thanh Minh). This traditional activity has started to fade in modern Vietnamese life, but it used to be a big celebration.

As Tết is ending, people hurry to enjoy the last festive moments. Young people dress up and hang out with their families. It is the perfect opportunity for them to subtly introduce their love interests (maybe someone they met at the Full Moon Festival) to their families — without making it feel too serious.

The couple can even take a stroll together. Enjoying the scenery in public allows them to spend time with each other without raising any suspicion about being together without a chaperone.

The 19th-century poet Nguyễn Du described this festivity in The Tale of Kiều.

“The Festival of Light in the Third Month,
the rites of cleaning (ancestral) graves and the festivities of Spring Promenade.
As merry folks flocked from near and far
The sisters and their brother prepared for their spring stroll.
The bustling crowd of belles and gentlemen,
Streams of steeds and carriages, layers of clothes.”

During their Spring Promenade, Thuý Kiều and her younger siblings meet Kim Trọng, who later becomes Kiều’s lover.

Common Lunar New Year Greetings

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới

Happy New Year

An Khang Thịnh Vượng

Peace, Health and Prosperity

Năm hết Tết đến,
Con chúc cả nhà:
Tràn ngập an vui,
Dồi dào sức khoẻ.

As the old year fades and the new one is here,
I wish our family joy and cheer,
with happiness and peace to always surround,
and health and blessings that truly abound.

Đong đầy hạnh phúc,
Gói trọn lộc tài,
Giữ mãi an khang,
Vuông tròn phú quý.

To be fulfilled in happiness,
to be wrapped in prosperity,
to have health and peace,
to have wealth and dignity.

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