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Celebrating Lunar New Year 2020: Year of the Rat

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Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!

Happy New Year!

We have so much fun celebrating Tết – Vietnamese Lunar New Year – each year with family and friends. Lunar New Year is the most important holiday for Vietnamese culture, and preparations start weeks in advance.

Asian Garden Mall Flower Festival

The Asian Garden Mall – Phước Lộc Thọ in Vietnamese – is at the heart of Little Saigon in Westminster. Each year they host the flower festival leading up to Lunar New Year. We love to walk around to see all the flowers, fruits, buy lì xì red envelopes, and watch the lion dances. They also have the Little Saigon Night Market that serves tons of Vietnamese food each night.

We had the opportunity to go the weekend before Lunar New Year this year to check out all the festivities.

Disney California Adventure Lunar New Year Celebration

This was our first time being able to see the Lunar New Year setup at Disney California Adventure, and it was so awesome! We rang in the Year of the Mouse by watching Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession and checking out all the food and drink in the marketplace, and adding messaged of hope, health, and happiness to the Lucky Wishing Wall.

Thien Hau Temple in Chinatown LA

Chinatown in LA also hosts multiple celebrations for Lunar New Year. This was our second time going to the Thien Hau Temple on Lunar New Years Eve to see the firecrackers and lion dances. It can be overwhelming for the senses, as the temple is filled with people lighting incense, praying, and shaking fortune sticks. The sound of the drumming and firecrackers echos. They also pass out beautiful flowers to everyone in the temple.

Tet Festival

On Lunar New Year’s Day, we went to the UVSA Tết Festival at the OC Fair & Events Center. We love attending this festival because it is the largest student-run festival, entirely organized by Union of Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California. Without supporting the kids and future generations, many of these traditions could get lost! They always have tons of great food, lion dances, firecrackers, and a variety of vendors selling items. The highlight is always the Cultural Village. It’s filled with all the photo ops.

Family Celebrations

Finally, on Sunday we celebrated with Huy’s extended family. We always have a great time handing out lì xì red envelopes, eating lots of food, and playing bầu cua (a Vietnamese dice game) and bingo.

Xx Heather & Huy

Note: All photos and video are our own unless otherwise noted. Please spread the aloha and link back to the original content when sharing.

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