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Celebrate the Year of the Dragon at the largest Vietnamese Lunar New Year Festival in the United States! Tet is short for Tet Nguyen Dan which is the Vietnamese Lunar New Year and the most important holiday in Vietnamese culture. Tet celebrates the arrival of a new spring when families reunite. They can forget about the troubles of the previous year and look forward to a better year.
The Vietnamese Lunar New Year in 2025 will begin on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, and will end on February 2, 2025. In Asian culture, the Snake symbolizes wisdom, adaptability and fortune. Those born in the Year of the Snake are said to be intelligent and intuitive.
USVA Tet Festival will return to the Garden Grove in Orange County, California, on January 31, February 1 and 2, 2025.
Festival Hours
- Friday, January 31, 2025 – 4 pm to 10 pm
- Saturday, February 1, 2025 – 11 am to 10 pm
- Sunday, February 2, 2025 – 11 am to 9 pm
Festival Theme
This year’s theme is “Thanh Pho Hoa” on “The City of Flowers.” This is to honor the efforts of the Vietnamese community in building a home abroad. Over 50.000 guests are expected to celebrate the Year of the Snake as well as commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Black April, aka the fall of Saigon.
Cultural Village
The festival’s cultural village, aka Lang Viet Nam, is a replica of a traditional Vietnamese village. You’ll see galleries, exhibits and models of Vietnamese architecture.
Contests
The festival will have a number of contests. Come hungry and enter the Pho’ Eating Contest, the Watermelon Eating Contest or the Milk/Tea Drinking Contest. There is a Modern Dance Competition with talented dance teams from all over Southern California competing for cash prizes.
Children’s Pageant
The Children’s Pageant is a traditional contest for children aged 4 to 11. The kids will be wearing a variety of traditional Vietnamese clothes and there will be a talent contest component in the pageant.
Festival Activities
Other Activities at the festival include
- Ancestral Altar Procession
- Raising of the Bamboo
- 13 Card Game
- Scavenger Hunt
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Bau Cua Ca Cop
Vendors
Vendors will be at the festival selling merchandise and giving information about services. Food vendors will be there selling traditional Vietnamese dishes.
Tickets
Tickets are sold at the entrance and will cost $8 per person. Infants 2 years old and younger will get in free.
Ceremonial Special
Only on Saturday, from 12 pm to 1 pm, there is Ceremonial Special. Attendees wearing traditional Vietnamese outfits (no religious outfits or costumes), military and scout uniforms will get in FREE!
You don’t have a traditional outfit? You can find a great selection of Vietnamese dresses here. And there are selections for men here.
Vietnamese Cuisine
If you liked the food at the festival and want to learn more about Vietnamese cooking, try these cookbooks. And you can use our links to see how much money you can save on them.
- Vietnamese Food Any Day by Andrea Nguyen
- An Chua: Simple Vietnamese Recipes That Taste Like Home by Julie Mai Tian
- The Pho’ Cookbook by Andrea Nguyen
- Vietnamese Made Easy: Simple. Modern Recipes For Every Day by Thuy Diam Pham
Or you could enjoy Vietnamese cuisine in the 10 Best Vietnamese Restaurants in Garden Grove as chosen by the users of TripAdvisor.
- Bradard Chateau
- Pho 79
- Garlic & Chives
- OC & Lau Restaurant
- Pho 45
- Lee’s Sandwiches
- Ho Noi Corner
- The World Crab
- Banh Mi & Che Cali
- Van Restaurant
Location
Garden Grove, California, is within 8 miles of Los Alamitos, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Fullerton, Burna Park, La Palma and Fountain Valley. It is 15 miles to Long Beach, 26 miles to Los Angeles, 31 miles to Glendale and 44 miles to San Bernardino.