The market for Tet (Lunar New Year) is starting to get busy.

Having nearly a decade of experience trading bamboo for making New Year's poles, starting in November of the lunar calendar, Mr. Tran Cuong (Nghia Khanh, Nghia Dan) travels to the mountainous districts of Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, and even to Thanh Hoa and Lao Cai to select and purchase suitable bamboo for making New Year's poles, which he then sells wholesale to traders.

Mr. Cuong said: “This year, I wholesaled about 40,000 New Year's poles to dealers in Vinh and other districts in the province. While in the past, people only used bamboo to erect New Year's poles, in recent years, with entire neighborhoods and villages erecting them, people prefer bamboo and rattan because of their uniformity, straight trunks, and gracefully curved tops. Therefore, we mainly source our goods from the North to supply to our dealers.”

In the days leading up to the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Dragon, along the main roads in Vinh City as well as the districts and towns, many traders brought bamboo, rattan, and other similar materials to sell to people who wanted to buy them to make New Year's poles.

While choosing a suitable bamboo pole, Mr. Le Duy Hung (Phat Son village, Dai Dong commune, Thanh Chuong district) said: “In the past, to make a New Year's pole, we would cut bamboo and rattan from our garden. Now, bamboo is scarce in the countryside, and finding a pole that meets the criteria for erecting one is even harder, so we almost always have to buy them. From the afternoon of the 23rd of the lunar month, our whole village simultaneously erects New Year's poles to welcome Tet. This year, the price of poles is the same as in previous years, ranging from 120,000 to 200,000 VND per pole.”

Thai Hoa is one of the localities in the province with the earliest and most widespread tradition of erecting ceremonial poles. Most households erect traditional poles made of bamboo, rattan, or reed; very few houses use iron or stainless steel poles.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Hoang, from Quang Tien ward (Thai Hoa town), said: “This year, starting from the 21st day of the 12th lunar month, households have been busy erecting New Year's poles. About 70-80% of households in the ward have erected New Year's poles. The poles are mainly made of bamboo, with lengths of about 6-10 meters, straight or curved in one direction, split down like a fishhook, with the tops still intact. In many neighborhoods, households pool money to buy everything from bamboo and poles to lanterns and decorative lights for the poles, so when erected, they are quite uniform and beautiful.”

The custom of erecting the Tet pole has been revived, and the materials used to make the pole (bamboo, reeds, palm leaves, flashing lights, lanterns, etc.) are selling quite well. Many localities in the province have formed pole markets in the stadiums of communes and villages. The markets only operate from after the 15th day of the 12th lunar month until the 28th day of the 12th lunar month. The busiest time is from the 20th to around the 25th day of the 12th lunar month, when every household rushes to erect their poles.

Mr. Nguyen Van Duc (Chau Khe commune, Con Cuong district), who transports bamboo poles to Vinh for sale, said: “For the past three days, many people have bought bamboo poles to erect New Year's poles, selling 50-60 poles each day. Usually, sales are best on the 22nd and 23rd of the 12th lunar month because according to tradition, after bidding farewell to the Kitchen God and the Stove God, New Year's poles are erected. A bamboo pole yields a profit of about 20,000-30,000 VND. Selling about 1,000 poles each Tet season can bring in 20-30 million VND. However, selecting the right poles for making New Year's poles is very meticulous and time-consuming.”

Besides selling bamboo and other materials for people to make their own New Year's poles, many vendors also offer a service to decorate a complete pole with the national flag, lanterns, LED lights, etc., according to the buyer's preferences. Each complete pole costs between 800,000 and 1.5 million VND. Therefore, not only bamboo growers and traders benefit, but also general stores selling electrical goods and decorations. The number of LED lights, LED strings, lanterns, etc., accompanying the New Year's poles is also increasing.

Recently, due to carelessness during the erection of the New Year's pole, several electrical short circuits have occurred in the province, leading to unfortunate accidents. Therefore, every citizen needs to be extremely careful and ensure safety when erecting the New Year's pole to enjoy a peaceful Spring Festival and Tet holiday.