Tết

Origins and lore

Scholars have long discussed how the festival began. Chinese rulers introduced the lunar calendar to Vietnam during centuries of imperial administration starting in 111 BC, bringing traditions such as red gift envelopes. Yet Vietnamese lore traces New Year customs further back, pointing to legendary kings and customary foods like square sticky rice cakes. A folk story also explains the three Kitchen Gods, who entered a sacred fire out of mutual loyalty and devotion. Today, the festival incorporates these cultural layers alongside Vietnam's own zodiac, which uniquely includes the cat and buffalo.

Preparing the house

Celebrations begin weeks in advance with deep domestic cleaning and visits to ancestral graves. Families sweep every room before the new year arrives, as doing so during the festival is believed to sweep away good fortune. To invite prosperity, households set up a tall bamboo pole known as a cây nêu or display flowering branches: yellow apricot blossoms in the south, peach blossoms in the north, and fruiting kumquat trees whose produce represents fertility. Unresolved debts are paid off beforehand so the household can enter the new year with a clear mind and peaceful relations.

First visitors and greetings

The first morning belongs entirely to the household. Children wear new clothes and give traditional greetings to elders, who hand them bright red envelopes of lucky money. Great care is taken regarding who crosses the threshold first, a practice known as xông đất. The character of the earliest guest is believed to shape the family fortune for the entire year, leading hosts to invite someone of good standing or step outside right before midnight to enter first themselves. Subsequent days are set aside for visiting friends, relatives, and respected teachers.

Street life and feasts

Outside the home, streets fill with noise and movement. Dancers perform the lion dance behind large masks, while drums, gongs, and firecrackers drive off bad spirits. People visit Buddhist temples to pray and seek fortune readings. At table, families gather around customary holiday dishes, including boiled rice cakes like bánh chưng and bánh tét, braised pork with eggs, dried bamboo shoot soup, and steamed sticky rice. Throughout these gatherings, relatives focus on maintaining harmony, avoiding anger or disagreements to ensure the upcoming year stays bright and fortunate.

How Tết is kept

Preparations begin with tending ancestral graves, settling debts, and cleaning the home before New Year's Eve. On the first day, households focus on family: children offer greetings in exchange for red envelopes of lucky money, and families carefully choose the first person to enter the house. Over the following days, people visit relatives, friends, teachers, and Buddhist temples. Celebrants attend lion dances in the streets, enjoy feasts featuring bánh chưng and braised meats, and keep peace at home to ensure good fortune throughout the coming months.

When and where

Tết falls on the first day of the first month in the Vietnamese lunisolar calendar, usually occurring between late January and 20 February on the solar calendar. The official celebrations span at least three days, while festivities and preparations often last up to a week.

The celebration is observed across Vietnam and within Vietnamese diaspora communities worldwide. While celebrated nationally in every province, local plant decorations differ, with peach blossoms preferred in the northern regions and yellow ochna blossoms favored across central and southern areas.

What Tết means

Tết represents a fresh start, agricultural renewal, and the arrival of spring. Leaving behind the difficulties of the preceding twelve months, families focus on familial respect, gratitude to ancestors, and harmony. Elements like kumquat fruits and red decorations represent fertility, prosperity, and good luck, while noise and lion dances are meant to banish negative spirits.

On the table

• Bánh chưng
• Bánh tét
• Bánh dày
• Canh khổ qua
• Thịt kho hột vịt
• Canh măng
• Giò
• Xôi

Tết dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

Questions people ask about Tết

See also

VesakA day to honor the birth, awakening, and passing of the Buddha, kept by Buddhists across Asia.Buddha's BirthdayA festival marking the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, observed across Asia with temple rituals and community gatherings.Hùng Kings' Temple FestivalA Vietnamese national festival honoring the legendary founding kings with temple worship and processions.Tết Trung ThuA mid-autumn festival of lanterns, mooncakes and folklore celebrated across Vietnam

Good reading and sources

• Tết on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-04.