Festivals & Holidays in Vietnam

By far the most important festival is Tết – the Lunar New Year festival – which takes place between the end of January and March. In the period leading up to Tết, the country is in the midst of preparations. Motorcyclists rush to deliver potted mandarin trees and flowering shrubs, the traditional decorations of the house. People are a little stressed and elbows are getting sharper, especially in the big cities where the usual traffic becomes almost murderous. Then, a few days before Tết, the pace starts to slow down as thousands of city dwellers leave for their ancestral cities in the provinces. Finally, on the first day of the new year, there is a brutal transformation: the streets become silent, almost deserted. Almost all shops and restaurants close for three days (except for a few that mainly receive foreign visitors; hotels operate as usual).

In large cities, streets are decorated with lights and public festivals are held, attracting several thousand inhabitants. But for the Vietnamese, the Tết is above all a private and family celebration. On the eve of the new year, families come together and exchange good wishes (from the younger to the older) and gifts of “good luck money” (from the older to the younger). On the first three days of the year, the hours of the day are dedicated to visits: on the first day to relatives, on the second day to closest friends and important colleagues, and on the third day to everyone else. Many people also visit the pagodas. In the evening, people drink and play (men) or chat, play games, sing karaoke and enjoy traditional snacks and sweets (women and children).

Visiting Vietnam during the Tết has good and bad points. The negative points: Traffic is saturated just before the holidays as many Vietnamese travel to their hometowns; hotels are full, especially in small towns; and the choice of shops and restaurants is very limited in the first days of the New Year (some places are closed for up to two weeks). Pagodas are particularly active, museums and historical sites that remain open are free, and the foreign-oriented travel industry with backpacker buses and resort hotels is developing as usual. Visitors also have the chance to be invited to the celebrations, especially if you have local contacts or manage to make Vietnamese friends during your stay. If you are visiting Tết, it is advisable to settle somewhere at least two days before the New Year and not try to move for a few days.

Less important holidays are 1 May, the traditional Socialist Labour Day, 2 September, the Vietnamese National Day, King Hung’s Lunar Calendar Day on 10 March, which commemorates previous kings, and Reunification Day on 30 April, which commemorates the fall of Saigon in 1975. At this time, trains and planes are usually full and it is difficult to find accommodation on the beach or in Dalat. It is best to book well in advance.

Holidays in Vietnam

Other holidays in Vietnam