January or February - Tet; Vietnamese and Chinese New Year
celebration; this most important Vietnamese festivity of the whole
year is celebrated an entire week from the first to the seventh
day of the new year according to the traditional moon calendar;
as the celebration depends on the phases of the moon, not the
sun, it is celebrated on different dates of the Western calendar;
traditionally, during the Tet days large amounts of food are consumed,
because the Tet days are considered an omen for the course of
the entire year; the belief is that if you eat a lot during the
Tet days, there will be enough food during the whole year.
February 3 - Founding Day of the Communist Party of Vietnam;
national holiday
March - day to commemorate the Trung sisters, who in the
year 41 of Christian reckoning led a rebellion against the Chinese
rulers; movable holiday, as it depends on the moon calendar.
April 30 - Liberation Day of South Vietnam and Saigon;
national holiday
May 1 - Labour Day; national holiday
May 19 - Ho Chi Minh's birthday; national holiday
May 28 - holiday in commemoration of the birth, the enlightenment
and the death of the Buddha; national holiday
August - Trung Nguyen; Day of the Wandering Souls; on this
day the souls of the dead are believed to wander to the habitats
of their offspring; celebrations in Buddhist temples; food is
spread on house altars for the souls of the deceased and fake
money is burnt in honour of them; moveable holiday, as it depends
on the moon calendar.
September 2 - National Holiday
September 3 - Day to commemorate the death of Ho Chi Minh
in 1969; national holiday
September - Trung Thu - autumn celebration at which children
parade through the streets with lanterns; for this celebration
moon cakes are baked; moveable holiday, as it depends on the moon
calendar.
November - Birthday of Confucius; moveable holiday, as
it depends on the moon calendar.
