A few days before Tet, a motorbike carrying a kumquat tree can tell you more about Vietnam than a row of souvenir shops. Someone is taking that tree home, preparing a place for it and waiting for relatives to arrive. The celebration is becoming part of the household.
Tet Nguyen Dan, usually shortened to Tet, is the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. It brings together family reunions, remembrance of ancestors and hopes for the year ahead. For visitors, the most rewarding moments often happen between the big events: choosing flowers, sharing tea or watching a craftsperson finish an order before returning home.
At Hura Cars, we encourage you to make room for these small experiences when planning a journey through Central Vietnam. Understanding why people celebrate makes the journey much richer.
When is Tet 2027?
The first day of Tet 2027 is Saturday, 6 February. Lunar New Year’s Eve, known as Giao thua, falls on Friday evening, 5 February.
These dates identify the New Year itself. They do not establish the full public holiday, individual business closures or a city’s event programme. Check those separately when arranging your trip.
The days before Tet and the first days of the New Year feel different. Beforehand, people are preparing: shopping, cleaning, buying gifts and travelling home. During the opening days, family visits and worship take priority. Later, more outings and businesses resume, although the timing varies.
If markets, food preparation and working craft villages interest you, consider spending time in Vietnam before New Year’s Eve as well as during the holiday.
Why returning home matters
Tet is a time to renew relationships. People working far from their hometowns may travel long distances to sit at the same table as parents and grandparents. A modest meal can carry the weight of a year’s waiting.
That helps explain the quieter shutters you may find on a familiar street. A closed family restaurant often means its owners are having their own reunion. Plan meals ahead so you can enjoy the atmosphere without expecting every business to follow its normal routine.
Ancestor remembrance is also important in many households. Offerings, flowers and a carefully prepared altar express gratitude and continuity between generations. Customs differ between families, regions and religious traditions; there is no single scene that represents every Vietnamese home.
Read the flowers and decorations
Flowers bring the approaching New Year into public view. Peach blossom is strongly associated with northern Tet, while yellow apricot blossom is especially familiar in the south and parts of Central Vietnam. Kumquat trees also appear widely. You will see local preferences alongside these broad regional patterns.
At a flower market, slow down and notice the choices: the shape of a branch, buds that have yet to open, or the care taken when tying a pot onto a vehicle. These details turn a short walk into a glimpse of household preparation.
Choose a market that is operating on your actual dates. Locations and closing times can change each year. Ask before photographing a vendor closely, keep the aisle clear and buy something if you would like to support the stall.
What happens before the first morning?
House cleaning, shopping and cooking create a sense of beginning again. Families may refresh the space around an ancestor altar, prepare a fruit arrangement or choose flowers together. These ordinary tasks give children a chance to learn how their household celebrates.
You may hear about the Kitchen Gods, known as ông Công, ông Táo, as the holiday approaches. Offerings and beliefs connected with this occasion differ between households. Tất niên is the closing-of-year gathering; giao thừa is the transition into the New Year. Ask a host which occasions matter to their family rather than expecting one fixed programme.
Du xuân means going out to enjoy the spring season. For some people that includes a pagoda visit; for others it means seeing relatives, walking among flowers or taking family photographs. You can share the public side of the celebration while recognising that household observances remain personal.
Understand a few New Year customs
New Year greetings express wishes for health, peace and good fortune. A simple “Chúc mừng năm mới” means “Happy New Year” and is a warm way to greet a host or shopkeeper.
Lì xì, or lucky money, is associated with good wishes and relationships. Practices vary: children and older relatives may receive envelopes, and workplaces have their own customs. Visitors do not need to hand out cash to participate in Tet.
Another custom, xông đất or xông nhà, concerns the first visitor to a home in the New Year. Some households choose this person carefully. Wait for an invitation rather than arriving unexpectedly on the first morning.
You may also see people taking a spring outing, known as du xuân, wearing áo dài for family photographs or visiting a pagoda. Treat a place of worship as a living religious space, even when its grounds look beautiful in photographs.
Choose an experience you can actually take part in
A market walk is a good starting point for independent visitors. Ask your accommodation which market is active, allow an unhurried hour and leave time for a tea or coffee stop at a business that has confirmed it will open.
A food experience works well when you want conversation around the celebration. A restaurant meal, cooking session or hosted activity should state which Tet dishes are included and whether you will observe, cook or taste them. A normal cooking class does not automatically become a Tet cake-making session.
In Hue, paper flowers offer another way into the season. Our guide to Thanh Tien Paper Flower Village explains the craft. Workshop access, artisan availability and any fee need arranging separately, particularly near family celebrations.
If you receive a personal invitation to a home, ask your host about timing, a suitable small gift and household customs. A welcome into family life is an invitation to listen as well as to look.
To plan a more focused experience, explore Tet in Hue and its paper-flower traditions, discover Vietnamese Tet food and tasting experiences, and read our Tet etiquette guide for home visits and cultural participation.
Give the celebration room in your itinerary
One cultural activity and one flexible outdoor stop can make a better day than a list of six appointments. Keep a meal arranged, allow for rain and leave room to accept an unexpected conversation.
For travel between Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An, our Central Vietnam road trip during Tet brings the regional journey together. A private transfer can connect your hotels and agreed stops; workshops, hosted meals and a specialist guide need their own arrangements.
Choose the experiences first, then ask us to check a practical route. That way the car serves the holiday you want to experience, with time left to enjoy it.
Once your plans are taking shape, our guide to booking a private car during Tet explains how to arrange the transport around them.
