In Country Tours
Lunar New Year in Can Tho (Mekong Delta)
What is Tết/Lunar New Year?
The Tết/Lunar New Year celebration is the most important holiday of the year in Viet Nam. Tết is celebrated throughout the country by people of all ages. It is a time people to visit their hometown and spend time with their family and friends. It is believed that the luck on the first day of the new year will indicate the luck for the whole year to come. People use the time leading up to the new year to buy new clothes, clean their home and workplace, pay debts and repair any damaged relationships. This is so they can start the new year fresh and hopefully have good luck and no problems for the year to come. The 2018 Lunar New Year is the ‘Year Of The Dog’.
What do typical Lunar New Year celebrations include?
Like Christmas and New Years Eve in Western countries, Tết celebrations always include a lot of eating special holiday food and drinking. The Tết celebrations go for several weeks in the leadup to the offical 5-day holiday. It is common for people to take additional days to make a longer holiday period. Gift giving is an important element of Tết. ‘Lucky money’ is given to children and the elderly, and employees are often given a bonus by their boss. Other common gifts are blossoming plants & trees like the Mai Flower (Apricot blossom). Many people will visit a Buddhist temple or pagoda during the Tết period. Cities and towns across Viet Nam will have flower, sculpture and lighting displays themed for the Year of The Dog. New Years Eve has fireworks in many locations, plus parties, music and Unicorn or Dragon dances.
How did the ICT team celebrate Lunar New Year?
At In Country Tours we have team members from all corners of the country who enjoyed returning to their hometowns for the holiday. In Country Tours’ founders Khoa & Michelle visited Khoa’s home town of Omon, near Can Tho in the Mekong Delta. Matt also visited Can Tho and Vinh Long, also in the Mekong Delta area. We hope you enjoy some photos of the celebrations in and around Can Tho.
Khoa visiting friends in his hometown
Khoa & family visiting his grandma
Preparing a traditional meal for guests, ‘off the beaten track’ deep in the Mekong.
Flowers on the riverside in Can Tho
Red and yellow ‘lucky’ flowers
Ong Pagoda in Can Tho
Elaborate Lunar New Year flower & sculpture display in Can Tho
Sculptures themed for ‘Year of the Dog’
In Country Tours hope everybody had a safe and happy Tết/Lunar New Year. We wish you all the best for this 2018 Year of the Dog. Click here for more information on visiting the Mekong Delta and contact the ICT office with any further queries via ict_support@incountrytours.com
