Growing up in Alexandria, Virginia, Dinh Pham said, celebrating the Lunar New Year, or Tet as it’s known in Vietnam, was almost like a secret “shared delicacy that we did at home” among family.
He didn’t get off from school but he remembers his mom making a really nice meal and everyone being “as pleasant as possible” and not arguing with each other “because that sets the tone for the whole year.”
The holiday was not really recognized in American culture when he was a child, he said. “It was not like we [could] go outside and invite other people because no one knew about it.”
Surrounded by hundreds of people Sunday for the Lunar New Year Celebration in Old Town Alexandria’s Atrium Building on Washington Street, Pham said he is really proud that his kids can actually share the holiday and its traditions with their own classmates.
It was the second year for the sold-out event that organizer Minh Pham said expected some 1,600 people.
Among the attendees was Rep. Don Beyer, who lives nearby and represents Arlington, Alexandria and Falls Church.
“It just reaffirms our understanding that Asian Americans are a much greater part of our population every year,” Beyer said. “With them, they bring all these wonderful cultural influences.”
Beyer said some 30 years ago, there were smaller festivals around Northern Virginia where people could celebrate the Lunar New Year.
“This is twice the crowd we had last year. And the hard part is, ‘Where are we going to put all the parking?'” He said, adding that he drove around the block for half an hour. “Probably best to take Metro.”
The Lunar New Year starts Saturday, Feb. 10 — which is when the Chinese lunar calendar begins. This year is the year of the dragon.
Some celebrations in the D.C. area have already happened ahead of the holiday, such as the ones at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art in D.C. and Tysons Corner Center, which both took place last Saturday.
Nicole Dowd, head of public programs at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, said that’s so people can celebrate with the museum and then get to spend the actual holiday with family and friends.
“The No. 1 is the family get-together,” said John Lin, chair of the City of Rockville’s Asian Pacific American Task Force. Families gather together to have a nice meal symbolizing their bond. “We are together; we are healthy, and it’s a really good feeling that you expect year after year.”
Lunar New Year is the most important holiday in several East Asian countries, and it is typically marked by a weeklong holiday and mass travel back home to reunite with family.
Lin said his family is “pretty much Americanized,” so they don’t keep much of a tradition anymore. “But the new immigrants — they probably need to get together from the New Year’s Eve.”
Tien Nguyen, who came to the Tysons event on Saturday, said her family keeps the same traditions from Vietnam now that she lives in the U.S.
“All the family gather[s] together at the parents’ house, grandparents’ house,” they wear traditional dress and give out lucky money to the children, Nguyen said.
The amount, which comes inside red envelopes, ranges from $1 to sometimes $100, depending on how “spoiled” the kids are, said Le Lai, one of the vendors at the Alexandria celebration. It’s usually an even amount because that’s considered good luck, but avoid the No. 4 because it sounds like “death” in the Chinese language, Le Lai said.
The event in Alexandria on Sunday was not just a celebration. It was an opportunity to educate others and the next generation about the traditions surrounding the holiday as a way to keep them alive.
One of the tables was laid out with banana leaves, rice and what appeared to be ground beans, and people lined up to learn how to wrap rice cakes eaten by Vietnamese families during the new year. It’s different from the round rice cakes eaten at Chinese celebrations, which are sweet and sticky. The Vietnamese rice cake, called bánh chưng, is square, savory and has layers filled with beans and pork.
This year, attendees lined up to get their letter for the year, and the calligraphy table was the most popular table on Sunday. Calligrapher Nhuong Vu’s brush never seemed to stop swirling as he put ink on scrolls people could take home.
Thien Nguyen’s scroll has his family’s initials at the top, and underneath were scripts for happy, talent and prosperity — things he not only wishes for the new year, he said. “I wish for them every day.”
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