Everything you need to know about celebrating Tet, or Vietnamese New Year
While the date is the same as Chinese New Year, Tet is a uniquely Vietnamese festival
While Vietnam also celebrates New Year according to the Western calendar, for most Vietnamese, New Year begins with Tet – the first day of the Lunar cycle.
While the date is usually the same as Chinese New Year, Tet is a uniquely Vietnamese festival, which began in the kingdom of Dai Viet – the first Vietnamese nation based around the Red River Delta, which broke away from the Chinese Tang Dynasty in the 10th century AD. If you can, it’s definitely worth timing your trip to coincide with celebrations.
Wondering what to expect? Wonder no more…
When is Vietnamese New Year?
As the date of Tet is based on the lunisolar calendar, the day changes each year, but generally falls in January or February. In 2025, Vietnamese New Year was celebrated on 29 January, and in 2026, it will be marked on 17 February.
As in China, the day marks the advent of spring and a new cycle of wet rice cultivation in the paddy fields.
Read next: 7 of Vietnam’s most spectacular festivals
How is Tet celebrated in Vietnam?
Nowadays Tet has a big build-up. In the weeks before the actual date, cities and provinces throughout Vietnam compete with each other with colourful floral street displays and families busily clear and dust their homes – in an equivalent of Western spring cleaning.
At midnight on Tet Eve, fireworks burst over the Vietnam’s cities and towns – most spectacularly in Da Nang where the sky flashes in myriad colours and the dragon bridges breathe flame. In Hanoi in 2025, 2,000 drones illuminated the night in what was Southeast Asia’s largest ever coordinated display. Ho Chi Minh City’s Nguyễn Huệ Street in District 1 is strewn with yellow Mai flower petals, which blooms in Spring.
The day of Tet itself is low-key and quiet – like a Western Christmas. Most shops and businesses close and Vietnamese spend time with their families – visiting temples to honour ancestors, giving red envelopes of Li Xi or lucky money, to their children and eating festive food like Gio Lua pork sausages, Banh Chung sticky rice cakes and pickled vegetables. This is the day greet your Vietnamese friends with ‘Chúc Mừng Năm Mới’ (Happy New Year) or ‘An Khang Thịnh Vượng’ (live well and prosper).
Read next:
Our guide to the best time to visit Vietnam, no matter your itinerary
8 incredible books to read before you visit Vietnam
The most beautiful places to visit in Vietnam
