Tết, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, begins on Saturday, February 6, 2027. Picture blossoms everywhere (pink peach blossoms in the north, yellow mai flowers in the south), the whole family back home, and a kitchen busy wrapping square bánh chưng (sticky rice cakes) for days. Tết Nguyên Đán (the festival of the first morning of the year) is Vietnam’s biggest holiday, and it’s all about family and fresh starts: homes are cleaned and decorated, ancestors are honored, and lucky money goes to children and elders. Vietnam’s government has endorsed a seven-day public holiday from February 4 to 10, 2027 (final approval rests with the Prime Minister).
When is Tết 2027?
The first day of Tết is Saturday, February 6, 2027, the same day as Chinese New Year. It begins the Year of the Goat. In the US and Canada, Vietnamese American and Vietnamese Canadian communities hold Tết festivals on the weekends around that date.
How is Tết celebrated?
If you go to a Tết festival, here are the traditions you’ll see, smell and taste:
- Honoring ancestors: in the last days of the lunar year, families visit ancestors’ graves and invite them home for Tết, and prepare a year-end offering tray.
- Bánh chưng: a square cake of sticky rice, mung beans and pork, wrapped in leaves.
- Lucky money: adults give money in red envelopes to children and elderly relatives, wishing them good fortune.
- Flowers: peach blossoms are the classic Tết flower in northern Vietnam, and yellow ochna blossoms in the south.
- Visits and pagodas: the first days are spent visiting relatives and friends, and many people go to pagodas to pray for a good year.
Where to celebrate Tết near you
You don’t need a plane ticket to Hanoi. Large Tết festivals take place in communities such as Orange County’s Little Saigon, San Jose, Houston and the Washington, DC area. See when Lunar New Year 2027 is and shared Lunar New Year traditions.
Frequently asked questions
Is Tết the same day as Chinese New Year?
Usually, and in 2027 both fall on Saturday, February 6. Vietnam and China use slightly different time zones for the lunar calendar, so the dates occasionally differ by a day.
How long is the Tết holiday in Vietnam?
For 2027, Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism backed a seven-day break from February 4 to 10. The final schedule is approved by the Prime Minister.
What animal is Tết 2027?
The Goat.