Tet Festival is a special occasion for family members to reunite and celebrate together the start of a new year.  Tet is also an opportunity to invite deceased ancestors back to join their family's Tet celebrations.

A plate of five fruits

With around 10 days to go to Tet, most Vietnamese people are busy preparing for their traditional festival.

According to traditional custom, before Lunar New Year’s Eve they will buy new clothes, stockpile traditional Tet delicacies, and clean and decorate their homes.  It is believed that cleaning the house will remove any bad fortune from the previous year. 

Top priority is especially given to carefully decorating the ancestral altar with votive papers, and a plate filled with 5 types of fruits which represents a desire for prosperity.  Traditionally, there are between 5 and 8 popular types of fruit chosen: custard apples, coconuts, papayas, mangoes, bunches of bananas, grapefruits, Buddha’s-hands and watermelons. 

Kitchens need to be cleaned before the 23^rd night of the last lunar month of the year.  On that day, every family holds a farewell ceremony for their Kitchen Gods who will ride on carp to Heaven to deliver an annual report about their family’s activities throughout the year, or so the legend goes. 

On the first 3 days of the Lunar New Year, the head of each family will make offerings to their ancestors to invite their souls to join the celebrations with their living family members. 

During these days, people visit their parents, relatives, teachers and friends, as well as go to pagodas to pray for peace, health and prosperity throughout the year. 

One special tradition of the Vietnamese people is the giving of lucky money to children and elders.  This custom is a way of wishing both children and the elderly good luck, good health, success, and happiness in the year ahead.

Spring is the season of joy.  Although the Tet Festival lasts from the 1^st to the 3^rd day of the 1^st lunar month, Vietnamese people always spend nearly a month celebrating this special time.  They also try to pay off any debts before Tet, and avoid having arguments or shouting at each other during Tet because it can bring them an unlucky year.