As Vietnam is predominately a Buddhist country, Christmas and New Year are not celebrated.  Instead TET is the main celebration.  Tet Nguyen Dan, or Tet for short, is considered the biggest and most popular festival of the year in Vietnam. Celebrated on the first day of the first month in the Lunar Calendar.  Tet’s celebration is the longest holiday which may last up to seven days

Tet is the occasion for Vietnamese to express their respect and remembrance for their ancestors as well as welcoming the New Year with their beloved family members. Moreover, in the past, Tet was essential as it provided one of few long breaks during the agricultural year, which was held between the harvesting of the crops and the sowing of the next ones. To make it easier, one can imagine Tet as a combination of Christmas and New Year: every family will get together to have big meals, decorate Tet trees and eat Tet food but to welcome the new year instead of a religious cause.  .Since Tet occupies an important role in Vietnamese’s religious beliefs, Vietnamese will begin their preparations well in advance of the upcoming New Year. In an effort to get rid of the bad luck of the old year, people will spend a few days cleaning their homes, polishing every utensil, or even repaint and decorate the house.

So at Habitat we have a Family Day where everyone’s families are invited and we give gifts to each other and eat some delicious food.

During the night, games were played with the children and some of the parents and this produced much laughter.