Vietnamese Traditional New Year – A celebration of love and connection

Unique cultural tradition

Having been working as Russian Ambassador to Vietnam since March 2021 and earlier as Minister Counsellor at the Russian Embassy in Vietnam from 2010-2014, , Ambassador Gennady Stepanovich Bezdetko can speak Vietnamese fluently a deep insight into Vietnamese culture.

What impresses the senior Russian diplomat most is different regions of Vietnam may have some different Tet celebration customs and practices although the Vietnamese people share their basic Tet rituals.

“Tet sees a few differences in regions. For example, people in the North celebrate Tet with peach blossoms while Southern people use apricot blossoms to decorate their homes. I love Vietnam. I love the Vietnamese traditions, and I, now attached to the local people’s customs and practices,” Ambassador Gennady Stepanovich Bezdetko shared.

He also expressed his hope that the Kitchen Gods would report to the Jade Emperor on all the achievements attained by the Vietnamese people over the past year, on the 23rd day of the lunar December [according to the Vietnamese people’s belief].

Meanwhile, his spouse Elena Bezdetko admires the way the Vietnamese people respectfully observe and seriously follow their traditional Tet customs.

She stressed that: “Although our two nations have different cultures, I recognize that we have many cultural things in common. Both Vietnamese and Russian people regard the New Year as a family celebration. Thus, preparations for the New Year often start a long time in advance. My Vietnamese friends pay special attention to decorating their homes with kumquat trees and peach blossoms, and cook traditional dishes and then put them on their family altar to worship their ancestors. I am deeply impressed by the bustling New Year atmosphere across Vietnam. Every place is embellished according to the East Asian traditions".

During the days before Tet, people in the North eagerly shop peach blossoms and kumquat trees while Southern residents  try to get an apricot blossom from open-air markets. Cultural entertainment programs and festivals are jubilantly organized across the country. Each year, I eagerly look forward to this period to once again experience the joy of welcoming a new spring in the country that we have considered for years as as our second homeland,” shared Mrs. Elena Bezdetko.

For his part, French Ambassador to Vietnam Olivier Brochet shared that, after one and a half years living in Hanoi, he has been deeply impressed by the city’s vibrant life, although it still retains its soul and unique antiquity, especially in the central district.

Ambassador Olivier Brochet has found the cultural life of Hanoians in particular and Vietnamese people in general rich and refined. To celebrate his second Lunar New Year in Vietnam, Ambassador Olivier Brochet decided to purchase an Áo dài (a traditional dress of Vietnamese people) for himself and ornamented his home with peach blossoms and flowers on his own.

“Any international visitor to Vietnam, upon seeing Vietnamese women wearing Áo dài, always show their admiration. I love it too. I have also discovered that men can also wear Áo dài. That’s why I decided to have one and even wore it during last Christmas. Wearing Áo dài reminded me of the first time wearing suit when I was 20. However, I think I'll get used to it after I wear it in a few more festive seasons,” said Ambassador Olivier Brochet.

Talking about his visits to flower markets and kumquat and peach blossom gardens, Ambassador Olivier Brochet laughed and said, “I’m very impressed by the way Vietnamese people can transport such large peach trees and kumquat trees on their motorbikes. I’ve taken many photos of the amazing transportation.” Such real-life experiences have helped Ambassador Olivier Brochet feel more spiritual values ​​that Vietnamese people have cherished and preserved over centuries.

A Moment of Reunion

Participating in the cultural diplomacy program “Vietnamese Tet Symphony,” organized by Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in mid-January in Hanoi to welcome the 2025 New Year, Egyptian Ambassador to Vietnam Amal Abdel Kader Elmorsi Salama realized that the Lunar New Year is the most important and meaningful festival of the year for the Vietnamese people.

Ambassador Amal Abdel Kader Elmorsi Salama herself is deeply impressed by the unique cultural essence of the Vietnamese people, which is beautifully showcased during the Lunar New Year. This is the time for family reunion and friend gatherings as well as the time for offspring pays their respect to their parents and grandparents.

Lunar New Year is also a moment to mark the beginning of spring — a season that brings joy and happiness as well as fosters the spirit of peace, cooperation and friendship among people.

Highly appreciating Vietnam’s remarkable socio-economic achievements in recent years, including its impressive growth rate and improvement of Vietnamese people’s living standards, Ambassador Amal Abdel Kader Elmorsi Salama believed that Vietnam will surely succeed in achieving its socio-economic development objectives in country’s era of rising.

She also expressed her hope for a new year of peace, prosperity, friendship and collaboration among nations worldwide.

British Ambassador to Vietnam Iain Frew, emphasized that the way Vietnamese people create connections with their families, hometowns, or homevillages, as well as with the traditions and history of the country, is truly significant during the Lunar New Year.

Being asked about the similarities between the Christmas season in the UK and the traditional Lunar New Year in Vietnam, Ambassador Iain Frew said, “The Christmas season in the UK is also the time for family reunion. People try their best to go home to, spending time together, talking with each other, having parties together and celebrating the festival together. We also have traditional customs during the New Year that I find similar to Vietnam. For instance, people in the UK often clean their homes, dusting away the past year’s misfortunes, and open their doors to welcome the New Year. After midnight, people frequently visit their neighbors to celebrate the New Year together and exchange New Year wishes. These activities foster the sense of community and solidarity. It’s truly a heartwarming moment”.

Ambassador Iain Frew also likes flower and ornament markets that sprout across Hanoi, a month before Tet. At every year-end during his nearly three years in Vietnam, he and the embassy staff decorate peach blossom trees and kumquat trees and that routine always gives him a warm feeling.

“I experienced the first Vietnamese Tet in 2023. I wrapped chung cake (bánh chưng) and wrote Tet couplets with the embassy staff. The cuisine during Tet is truly fascinating as some dishes, particularly bánh chưng, are rarely eaten in other time of the year. I love the flavor of bánh chưng, which is made from glutinous rice, mung beans and pork, and xôi gấc (spiny bitter cucumber sticky rice) molded into flower-shaped patterns with mung bean and sesame seeds sprinkled around.

In 2024, I had the chance to visit Bát Tràng Ceramic Craft Village and crafted a ceramic dragon to commemorate the Year of the Dragon. This year, I plan to visit a pagoda to learn more about the Vietnamese tradition of praying for a peaceful and prosperous year,” shared Ambassador Iain Frew.