To celebrate Tết, the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) and Global Student Ambassadors (GSA) hosted an event where you could enjoy delicious Vietnamese food, play fun games and activities with your friends, get mystery gifts, and take fun pictures in a photo booth.

Tết is the commonly used name of the Vietnamese New Year but it originally came from Tết Nguyên Đán, which means “Festival of the First Morning of the First Day.” Tết has also been called the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year.

In many places in Asia, it is a public holiday and is a major time period for travel. Tết normally is a three-day festival marking the beginning of the traditional Vietnamese calendar, which is a variant of the Chinese lunisolar calendar.

Tết is the Vietnamese New Year celebration which happens every year between January and February. Lunar New Year celebrates the coming of spring and is an important time for people to spend with family and friends.

During the event you had the chance to play multiple fun games like Bầu Cua and Lô tô which both are considered gambling games. There are also other games like Bai Cao, a card game. 

When asked what their favorite part of the event was, Alyssa Nguyen, a first year student at Highline, said, “The games were really fun just because of the cultural significance of it. I feel like a lot of people don’t really know what they do for Vietnamese New Years.”

Jaycee Ngo, the president of the Vietnamese Student Association said, “We hope, through this event, you can feel the warmth of our festival for Tết. it’s also a great chance to connect with each other and learn more about Vietnam traditions.”

The first days of the New Lunar Year are sacred to the Vietnamese people. This is time for everyone to make wishes. One writes their wishes on a piece of paper and hangs it on a tree branch.  

People go to scholars and tell them about their wishes for the New Year, which will then be written down in Chinese script. People believe that those calligraphic scripts will help turn their wishes into reality.

You were also able to see amazing live performances from members of the Vietnamese Student Association, like Vivian and Olivia who sang “tet nay con se ve” as well as Davit and Tracy who sang “tet dong day.” You could even perform a song yourself as they had karaoke after the performances.  

The New Year is celebrated differently between countries and regions. The Chinese New Year, also called the Spring Festival, or Chun Jie in Mandarin Chinese, is a 15-day festival that marks the beginning of the Chinese traditional calendar and welcomes spring. 

The Korean New Year, Seollal, is a three-day festival. It marks the first day of the traditional Korean calendar, which is based on the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. It includes the day before, and the day after New Year’s Day.

In the end, this event was made to show the Vietnamese traditions to celebrate Tết and be able to share the celebration with everyone as well as help you connect with others and learn more about their culture.