Among various activities, the planting of a nêu tree has attracted a lot of attention from participants. The tree is planted on December 23rd of the lunar calendar at the Thăng Long Imperial Citadel in Hanoi.
The Nêu tree is decorated with lanterns, distich and other traditional items. As time passes, the tradition of planting the nêu tree has changed according to each region. However, the meaning of wishing for protection and health still remains the same.
New Year’s Eve this year will fall on February 16. From February 18 to 20, various art performances will take place, including martial arts, water puppetry, folk singing and dance.
Children in Hà Nội will enjoy an early celebration of the festival through folk games, such as tugs of war and swings. Along with games, children can try their hands at making bánh chưng (glutinous square cakes) and lì xì (lucky money envelope).
They will also learn to print and paint folk paintings and write calligraphy once use as good luck decoratiions during Tết.
Together with the festival, an exhibition will be held until February 24 introducing visitors to a traditional Vietnamese Tết celebration and typical worshipping space for the occasion 100 years ago. This willbe done through a display of wood carvings of French researcher Henri Oger and documents from France’s Albert Kahn Museum.
