Vietnamese New Year (Nguyen Dan)

"Nguyen Dan" starts on the first day of the first lunar month and lasts for a period of 7 days, marking the arrival of spring.
Vietnamese people like to decorate their houses with Hoi Mai (yellow flowering plant) and display a New Year Tree (Cay Neu - a Bamboo pole adourned with flowers,bells & good luck charms) and to celebrate the first day of New Year with family and friends, with children giving traditional greetings to their elders, before receiving New Year Gifts.

Midday, incense is burnt, and an offering is made to ancestors on the houshold altar, which is performed each day during the festival period.

During the second day of festivities, Vietnamese people visit relatives and in-laws, and their teachers family and distant relatives on the 3rd day. They also visit Budda, bringing home flowers to be kept all year round to bring good luck to the family.

Traditional Dragon dances are performed, along with fortune telling based on a famous poem called "Truyen Kieu"