Tết Festival

Tết or Vietnamese Lunar New Year is the most important festival of the year. Traditionally, the Vietnamese people take an entire week to celebrate Tết. It is the time for family reunions, commemoration of ancestors, harmony and exchange of best wishes, special food, new clothes, new beginnings and other festive activities. The few days at the start of the year are the most important days. All activities are undertaken with great care to ensure that people will have happiness, good fortune and longevity throughout the year.

For the last few years, the Tết Festival has been celebrated over two days at Regency Park Reserve, on Saturday and Sunday, thus marking a new step forward for the Vietnamese Community in celebrating its traditional festivals and in contributing to Australian Society. It is more than just a celebration by Vietnamese Australians of the New Year. It is an opportunity for them to share their cultural heritage with the wider Australian community and to promote greater understanding within our multicultural society. More than 20 000 people from all ethnic backgrounds attend the Festival each year to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

The Tết Festival was officially opened by Mr Loc Doan, President of the Vietnamese Community, and by representatives of the Government and Opposition. Representatives of many Vietnamese organizations and the general public were also present at the Opening Ceremony..

The Festival was rich in cultural and festive activities. Non-stop, colourful and attractive performances occurred on the main stage from the start until the end of the festival. They included traditional music and dances; ao dai (traditional long robe) parades; a multicultural concert with the participation of Irish, Cambodian, Indonesian, Thailand, Chinese and Korean cultural groups; rock concerts and a puppet show. There was a karaoke stage open to anyone who wished to share their voice and sing for the public. Delicious foods, such as cha gio (spring rolls), goi cuon (combination rolls), pho (beef noodles), nuoc mia (sugar cane juice), che (sweetened porridge), and many more traditional dishes were sold in food stalls. For those who like amusements, they could always try a chess game or a ride.

More than 100 volunteers have helped each year to organise the Tết Festival. They have put hours of their own time preparing for the Festival, months before the Lunar New Year day. They have worked hard to ensure that everything ran smoothly. We would like to express our gratitude to them for their valuable contribution and their great efforts in raising funds, coordinating and participating in programming festival events and activities. We also wish to thank our sponsors, past and present, The City of Port Adelaide Enfield, Quit SA, Bank SA, Clipsal and Andersons Solicitors. Without the work and support of volunteers and sponsors, without the participation of nearly 20,000 community members, the Tết Festival would not have been such a great success.

 

 

Children's Festival

The second major festival of the year organized by VNCASA was the Full-Moon Festival or Children’s Festival (Tết Trung Thu), held at St Clair Recreation Centre, Woodville. The Festival was especially organized for children to celebrate the brightest full moon (Mid-Autumn) of the year.

VNCASA often chooses the weekend before the mid-autumn full moon day to organise the Festival because the mid-autumn full moon day is not usually an Australian public holiday.

The Vietnamese in South Australia have celebrated the Children’s Festival every year since the establishment of the Vietnamese Community at their early settlement in South Australia. Over the years, the celebration has steadily increased in size, activities and the number of people involved. Besides the participation of the Vietnamese, the Festival has drawn a great attendance of people from the wider community. The Festival is opened to all Australians and it is a special occasion for Vietnamese Australians to share their unique, fine tradition and to promote harmony between diverse cultures.

The Children’s Festival activities started as early as July with the School Participation Program. VCASA in conjunction with Vietnamese Teachers’ Association, ran over 50 lantern making workshops and other cultural activities relating to the Children’s Festival, involving thousands of SA children from both metropolitan and country schools, public and private schools. In 2003, VCASA organized in association with the Adelaide Festival Centre, a free lantern-making workshop at the Festival Centre. There were over 200 children from non-Vietnamese background who enthusiastically participated in the workshop. In addition to the festive activities that led to the Children’s Festival, a Vietnamese Language Competition was organized with the participation of all Vietnamese Ethnic Schools and students of Vietnamese language in mainstream schools. The competition covers all levels from year 1 to year 12.

On the Festival day, approximately 5000 adults and children attended the Festival. In the morning, young people from different cultural backgrounds enthusiastically took part in sporting activities such as badminton, table tennis, tennis and tug-of-war. In the afternoon, there were ao dai competitions for children and teenagers. There was also a Vietnamese quiz show in which young people were tested on their knowledge of Vietnamese and Australian culture and history. Many children, with the supervision of parents, were involved in the lantern making workshops. They completed colourful and beautiful lanterns. They participated in the lantern competition in the late afternoon and the lantern parade in the evening. Other activities such as drawing, chess and Chinese chess competitions were also provided.

In the evening, the festival concert opened with the dragon dance and concluded with the children’s lantern parade. The concert, which included songs, dances and mime, was performed enthusiastically by children and students from the Vietnamese Community Ethnic School, Marryatville Primary School, Urrbrae Agriculture High School, Woodville High School, Thebarton SC, Lac Viet Scout Group, Ve Nguon Music Class and Vovinam. Children from other ethnic backgrounds such as Thai, Indian, Irish etc ... were invited to the concert. They sang and danced under the applause and cheers of everyone present.

No festival can be without Vietnamese traditional foods and drinks such a cha gio (spring rolls), goi cuon (combination rolls), pho (beef noodles) and che (sweetened porridge). The display of cultural, educational and art works, and the music and sounds added colour to the festive atmosphere and played an important role in introducing Vietnamese culture to young Vietnamese and to the general public. Distribution of sweets and moon cakes to children marked the end of the night.

As with the the Tết Festival, more than 100 volunteers offered their hands to organise the Children’s Festival. Under the coordination of the Organising Committee, they put in hours of their own time over four months and worked hard to prepare for the Children's Festival. We once more would like to express our gratitude to them for their valuable contribution and their great efforts in raising funds, coordinating and participating in the program of events and activities, for giving ideas and sharing concerns. Without the work and support of volunteers, without the participation of more than five thousand community members, the Children’s Festival would not have been the great success it undoubtedly was.