Happy New Year, Warm Spring!

Tet is here, everywhere in Vinh city is filled with colorful flags and flowers. Photo: Nhat Lan - Duc Anh

Tet is here! Vinh City - the political, economic and social center of the province has had warm and peaceful days of the first spring of the year. Everywhere in the city is bustling and joyful with countless tones of flowers and music. The streets are decorated brilliantly; the highlight is the flower stalls around Ho Chi Minh Square...

On New Year's Eve, Ho Chi Minh Square is the gathering place of tens of thousands of people in the city. Here, Vinh City People's Committee coordinated with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to organize the New Year's Eve Festival to welcome the Spring of the Pig 2019. The program is a special cultural and artistic activity during the traditional Lunar New Year to meet the enjoyment needs of the people.

The festival included many modern dance, singing and dancing performances with the participation of famous artists and athletes. The festival ended with a high-altitude fireworks display to welcome the new year at the exact moment the new year arrived. The city's people enjoyed a magnificent and sparkling "light party". The party opened a new year full of new aspirations.

High-altitude fireworks to welcome the New Year at Ho Chi Minh Square. Photo: Duc Anh

To make the New Year's Eve celebration peaceful, many people have silently contributed their efforts. They are officers and soldiers of the armed forces, doctors, electricians, sanitation workers... In recognition of these silent contributions, on this New Year's Eve, the leaders of the Party, State and Nghe An province visited, praised, presented gifts and sent New Year's greetings to these honorable citizens.

Leaders of the Party, State and Nghe An province visited people staying up late on New Year's Eve and patients. Photo: Thanh Cuong - Thanh Le

On New Year's Eve in the Red City, it seems that no one can sleep. After the "fireworks party", people flock to the temples and ancient pagodas to offer incense and ask for calligraphy. Trung Dung and Hoai Linh (Le Loi ward) shared: Technology is changing life too much, especially affecting children. On New Year's Eve, the couple took their children to the pagoda so that the children could learn about the old customs and appreciate traditional cultural values. After New Year's Eve, the whole family will carry out the plan to travel during the three days of Tet such as going to Kim Lien, Uncle Ho's hometown, going to the village to see the festival, going to the teacher's Tet, celebrating longevity...

At the beginning of the year, go to the temple to ask for calligraphy. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Preserving the old features, joyfully reuniting, at the moment of transition between the old year and the new year, in every village and hamlet in the province, there are many joyful and vibrant activities. Inter-family groups choose spacious and flat locations to light fires and celebrate the new year. By the flickering fire, everyone holds hands and sings joyful and bustling songs, expressing faith and hope when the new spring has come, bringing with it the warmth and revival of grass, trees, and flowers.

Enjoying rice wine and singing and dancing during Tet in Tam Lien village. Photo: Ho Phuong

For example, in Tam Lien village, Tam Quang commune (Tuong Duong), there are festivals to drink rice wine, enjoy campfires, pick democratic flowers, and play folk games. The sound of gongs echoes in harmony with folk songs (khap, lam, nhuon, xuoi). People gather around with jars of rice wine, full of the flavor of sticky rice and yeast leaves. The dances are rhythmic and graceful. Good wishes are sent. Mr. Phang Van Thuy - Head of Tam Lien village said: These activities create conditions for people to have fun, connect the community, create a new cultural lifestyle, and limit social evils during Tet.

Tet comes to every family. Every family shares the joy of reunion and gathering. On normal days, Mr. Ngo Van Hung and his wife in Hamlet 2, Tuong Son Commune (Anh Son) live together in a spacious, empty house. When Tet comes, all of their children who work far away return, making the house much warmer. Mr. Hung shared: “This Tet Ky Hoi, all three children who work and live in the South have brought their whole family back to their hometown. The family is together, my wife and I are extremely excited. The greatest happiness of the elderly is to be with their children and grandchildren on happy days like this.”

People in Khe Ran village, Bong Khe commune (Con Cuong) happily carve rice fields on Tet holiday. Photo: Cong Kien

This Tet, wherever you go, it is the same: In every village, hamlet, block, everywhere there are flagpoles, flagpoles, bright roads, and bright lights at night. To celebrate Tet, many localities in the province have organized exchanges and meetings with children far from home, helping them grasp the progress in the process of socio-economic development, while also seeking spiritual and material support for their homeland, for the poor and those in difficult circumstances. In localities such as Anh Son, Do Luong, Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan... many healthy, joyful and exciting sports activities were organized, attracting a large number of people to participate.

Many folk games are held during Tet in Thanh Chuong and Nam Dan districts. Photo: Huy Thu

In Thanh Chuong district, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the District Youth Union simultaneously organized football tournaments and many folk games such as blindfolded duck catching, throwing balls, and pot smashing at the central stadium. In Nam Dan district, the Nam Thanh commune wrestling festival beat drums again. Competing at the wrestling festival, Mr. Nguyen Ba Luc excitedly said: “Every time the traditional New Year comes, the people of the commune eagerly organize the wrestling festival. I am very happy to be able to attend the Ky Hoi Spring Wrestling Festival in my hometown. On Tet, winning or losing is not important, the main thing is to encourage the movement and contribute to making the joyful atmosphere of Spring and Tet in my hometown more exciting”.

New spring has come, filled with new hopes. In the "land of learning" Quynh village, on the second day of Tet, people held a spring writing ceremony and honored excellent students. Attending this year's spring writing ceremony were nearly 100 outstanding students who participated in writing essays and poems about their renewed homeland, the contributions of the Party and Uncle Ho, recounting their good deeds in the past year and their goals for the year of the Pig. From the articles written on the opening day, the Commune's Learning Promotion Association selected the best, most meaningful essays and poems with the most beautiful handwriting to give learning promotion gifts to encourage and motivate the students' learning spirit in the first days of the new spring.

On the morning of the second day of Tet, Quynh Doi commune organized a writing festival for children at the beginning of the year. Photo: Viet Hung

Teacher Nguyen Ngoc Quy - Chairman of the Association for Promoting Education in Quynh Doi Commune, Quynh Luu District said: Writing at the beginning of the year is a beautiful cultural feature of Vietnamese people, showing the spirit of studiousness and promoting learning. Quynh Doi considers learning as the top priority, so we organize writing at the beginning of the year for the children to create excitement at the beginning of the year so that they can try to study hard during the year. In the 2017-2018 school year, the commune had 8 excellent students of the province, 49 excellent students of the district and 40 students passing the university entrance exam. Hopefully this year, Quynh Doi will have more children with high scores.

Boat racing in Quynh Long in the first days of the year. Photo: Huu Tinh

In the fishing villages of Quynh Luu, Dien Chau, Nghi Loc, Cua Lo, each village has its own good customs and beliefs to celebrate Tet and pray for luck. But in general, it is the hope for favorable weather, calm seas, national peace and prosperity, and a bountiful fishing season for the villagers. On the second day of Tet, thousands of people from Quynh Long commune flocked to the sea dike of Phu Lien village to participate in the Ancestor Apprehension Ceremony at the Whale Temple in Dai Bac village, praying for a new year; participating in the traditional boat racing festival and launching the fishermen to exploit seafood in 2019.

Dien Chau fishermen prepare to go out to sea for luck at the beginning of the year. Photo: Mai Giang

While enjoying the spring, Dien Chau fishermen do not forget to prepare for a new year of going out to sea and having good luck. This Tet, most fishermen choose the second day of Tet to go to sea at the beginning of the year. The boats only go out to sea about 3-5 nautical miles, drop their nets for luck, then return to continue celebrating Tet with their families and neighbors. Fisherman Le Van Huy in Dien Bich commune happily shared: "Choosing a good day to do business all year long is a good thing, so people go through the procedures on the second day of the New Year. In general, we pray for luck for a year of favorable weather..."

Hmong men and women throw pao to choose a life partner in early spring. Photo: Dao Tho

Happy Tet, warm spring! The highland villages have now changed into new clothes. The sound of pi and khen is bustling with love. In Muong Long commune (Ky Son district), the elderly sit around the fire, eat sticky rice cakes, drink corn wine, and chat about the old year and advise each other on how to do business in the new year. Young men and women wear their best traditional costumes and invite each other to the yard to play khen and throw pao to find wives and husbands.

The girl sang: “My beloved son, this year is beautiful and lucky for me to meet you. Which village are you from? Why do you know how to talk funny, making a girl like me not want to go to work anymore? What did your parents eat to be born as handsome as you?...”. And the boy replied: “My beautiful daughter, I come from village…, today is Tet, I am lucky to meet you, in my heart I have secretly fallen in love with you. My parents ate pickled vegetables to give birth to me…”

Bullfighting festival at the beginning of the year in Muong Long commune. Photo: Dao Tho

Outside the commune stadium, every household brings their biggest and most beautiful cows to prepare for the spring fighting festival. “Every year, Tet must have buffalo and cow fighting, cockfighting, and pao throwing to be fun. For us highlanders, bull fighting is not only a hobby but also a way to encourage people to develop agriculture” - Mr. Lau Chu Xeng in Muong Long 2 village affirmed!

Happy Tet, warm Spring comes to every home, countryside, village... with new faith!