Overseas Vietnamese across nations celebrate Lunar New Year
Vietnamese expatriates in Australia, the UK, China, and Japan have organised gatherings at different scales to mark the Lunar New Year (Tet), the longest and important festival of their home country.
Vietnamese people in the UK participate in a contest of making banh chung (square sticky rice cake) - a traditional Tet food - as part of their Tet celebration. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese expatriates in Australia, the UK, China, and Japan have organised gatherings at different scales to mark the Lunar New Year (Tet), the longest and important festival of their home country.
In Australia, many Vietnamese expats, businesspeople, and students met at a Tet celebration held by the Vietnamese Consulate General in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia on January 30.
Delivering his remark, Consul General Nguyen Dang Thang highlighted the growth of Vietnam – Australia ties, especially in economy-trade, and the contributions of the Consulate General and the expatriates to Vietnam’s COVID-19 prevention and control last year.
The agency has mobilised the Australian Government to support Vietnam with 7.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine and so far raised more than 41,000 AUD from the Vietnamese communities in New South Wales, Queensland, Nam Australia, and New Caledonia for Vietnam’s response to the pandemic.
In an interviewed with the Vietnamese News Agency, many Vietnamese expats in Australia shared their plans to return home given better controlled COVID-19 situations in the two nations over the past two months and the resumption of commercial flights between them.
In the UK, a similar celebration featuring traditional folk games and food took place on the same day with the participation of more than 1,000 Vietnamese expatriates.
Co-organised by the Vietnamese Family Partnership (VFP) and the Vietnam Business Association in the UK (VBUK) and supported by the Vietnamese Embassy, the event was the biggest of its kind of the community so far.
Also gathering a large number of overseas Vietnamese, a festive event to mark Tet was held in Kunming, China by the Vietnamese Consulate General here.
In Japan, Tet celebrations took place among Vietnamese families who could not come back home on the occasion. They made traditional dishes and decorations to enjoy the festival together.
Lam Xuan Thanh, a Vietnamese living in Tokyo, said preparing for Tet is the way for the expats to help their children better understanding about Vietnamese culture./.
Broiled pork cooked with coconut juice and duck eggs together with bitter gourd soup are viewed as an unmissable part of the traditional tray in southern Vietnam during Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays - the country’s largest traditional festival.
Visiting pagodas during the Lunar New Year festival is not merely an activity associated with Buddhism but it has become an age-old cultural tradition, and an indispensable part in Vietnamese people’s spiritual life
The ginger ‘jam’ made in Kim Long Ward, Hue City, in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, stands out for its authenticity and absence of additives. The specialty is muchly consumed during Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.
During the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival, it is a tradition for Vietnamese families to put up ornamental plants outside and around their houses to liven up the atmosphere while expressing a wish for good luck, happiness, and prosperity in the new year.
Throughout its resistance against colonialists and imperialists, Vietnam developed a revolutionary press that has served as a benchmark for just and legitimate causes worldwide.
Founded in 1842, the Vienna Philharmonic is regarded as a cultural ambassador of Austria, with prestigious conductors like Mahler and Karajan who shape its legacy. Its New Year’s Concert, broadcast to over 90 countries annually, stands as a global symbol of classical music excellence.
PM Chinh lauded the press’s historic role in the nation’s fight for independence and its ongoing process of national development, affirming that the Government always highly appreciates the close partnership and steadfast support of press agencies and journalists nationwide.
In recent decades, Vietnam’s mainstream media has become a reliable and persuasive channel for showcasing the nation’s development policies and achievements, especially in economic matters, according to a senior assistant editor at the Times of India.
A hub for sharing best practices, the event aims to forge solutions for financial sustainability, public media contracts, audience engagement, content innovation, and newsroom restructuring. It is also a moment for Vietnam’s media to accelerate its progress and figure out what the “revolutionary press” means in a new era.
From “Thanh nien”, Vietnam’s first revolutionary newspaper founded by Nguyen Ai Quoc (later President Ho Chi Minh) on June 21, 1925, the revolutionary press has remained devoted to its sacred missions -accompanying the nation, serving the Fatherland, and working for the people.
The official launch of Emirates’ Dubai–Da Nang route on June 2 has sparked a “tourism revolution” for Vietnam’s central coastal city. Da Nang is emerging as a top destination for high-end travelers, particularly from the lucrative Middle Eastern market.
Bernama CEO Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin said VNA has been a consistent and reliable partner in OANA, contributing actively to the regional media landscape through content sharing, coordination, and policy discussions. Their coverage of ASEAN and Indochina issues adds valuable perspectives. Bernama appreciates the collaboration with VNA.
In this era of global integration and digitalisation, the press must adopt modern multimedia models to not only meet increasing information and communication demands but also align with the broader socio-economic development of the country.
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Running until June 21, the festival brings together more than 80 central and local media organisations, featuring nearly 130 exhibition booths that cover the full spectrum of national life, encompassing economy, politics, culture, society, defence, security, and foreign affairs.
As of June 17, Ca Mau province had achieved its target of supporting the construction and renovation of 4,400 homes, with a total budget of over 235 billion VND (about 9 million USD).
Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association (VJA) Le Quoc Minh has called for technology to be leveraged not to replace identity, but to enhance it—allowing Vietnamese journalism to reach both local and global audiences.
In recent years, with strong support from the Party and State, and building on its tradition as a heroic news agency, the VNA has not only actively participated in OANA but also proactively proposed various ideas for cooperation, helping shape a fresh image of effective media collaboration in the digital era, said VNA General Director Vu Viet Trang.
The education sector has been one of the foundations playing a vital role in deepening Vietnam – New Zealand ties, said Prof. Damon Salesa, Vice-Chancellor of the Auckland University of Technology (AUT).
Tien Giang province has addressed the housing needs of 608 poor, near-poor, and policy-beneficiary families facing housing difficulties. Of these, 370 houses were newly constructed while 238 underwent major renovations.
Vietnamese people in the UK participate in a contest of making banh chung (square sticky rice cake) - a traditional Tet food - as part of their Tet celebration. (Photo: VNA) 
