Ring in the New Year
Celebrating the Tet Festival
By Karrie Comfort Staff Writer
Lion dancing, food lines and Lang Viet Nam rung in the Lunar New Year at the 36th annual Union of Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California (UVSA) Tet Festival, held at the Costa Mesa OC Fair Grounds.
While everyone lamented that 2016 was a terrible year, many Asian cultures had not yet rung in 2017, the year of the Rooster, until this past Saturday. Tet Festival, a Vietnamese celebration for the Lunar New Year, is the largest of its kind — outside of Vietnam.
“To me, Tet Festival and UVSA is my way to connect back to that heritage and culture that I’ve felt disconnected to,” said Alex Doan, a volunteer on the media team and student at CSULB. “Not only that, it has a provided me with so many connections, networks and importantly friends and family that I wouldn’t get anywhere else.”
One of its most popular attractions is Lang Vietnam, a cultural village, mimicking a traditional festival celebration and completed with traditional foods like banh tet, a banh cung, a river boat and an ao dai shop.
What’s an ao dai you ask? A traditional Vietnamese tunic-like piece of clothing, usually made of silk that can be worn by both men and women, and is donned by many festival goers, young and old.
Along with the cultural pieces, there were several traditional dance performances and Vietnamese singers who entertained the audience on the main stage; however, what I found the most exciting was the Spring Wedding.
Every year, a couple is chosen to participate in a traditional vietnamese wedding, complete with a procession of dancers and village entourage! This one was beautiful and moving, like any wedding should be, but the bride and groom also expressed their appreciation that they could still have a cultural wedding here in the States.
Culture is not something that is left behind by Vietnamese-Americans. Rather, it is something that is cherished and celebrated.
“I believe that Tet is very valuable for us as a community… It is a time where the old lives are reborn as a new one,” said Bill Bui Masaki, a festival attendee and student at CSULB. “It is a time where we honor the dead and bring good wishes to our families. Being raised Vietnamese and born in Vietnam, I cannot let myself forget what the history and culture of Vietnamese Tet is for me.”
Along with the Vietnamese culture, of course, comes the amazing food.
“Honestly, I never thought I would become a director for Tet Festival,” said Chris Alanis, marketing director for the Tet Festival. “We did have a lot to learn, and mistakes were made. However, we were able to invite several celebrities to participate at our Meet & Greet booth and reach out to a new demographic via Groupon.”
The proceeds from the festival are used to fund cultural experiences and events for high school and college students throughout the next year, including our own CSULB Vietnamese Student Association.
With over Vietnamese Americans calling the US their home, it is a uniquely American experience to be able to enjoy their culture right here in Southern California.
