Spring of Giap Thin 2024: Preserving and spreading the beauty of Vietnamese culture in the UK

On February 4, many overseas Vietnamese in the UK and local people participated in many traditional cultural activities to celebrate the Lunar New Year 2024.

Photo caption — Representatives of Lewisham and Deptford authorities, the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK and Vietnamese associations and delegations attend the 2024 Giap Thin Tet festival. Photo: Phong Ha/VNA correspondent in the UK

According to VNA correspondent in London, the event was attended by Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK Nguyen Hoang Long; representatives of Vietnamese associations in the UK; Ms. Vicky Foxcroft - Member of Parliament for Lewisham and Deptford, and representatives from local authorities. The event reflected the attention of local authorities to the Vietnamese community in the UK. As the largest annual festival of the Vietnamese community in the UK, this year's Tet Giap Thin attracted a large number of participants, especially children, with competitions and folk games such as tug of war, bamboo dance, chess, hand-drawing of dragons and calligraphy of the beginning of spring, lion dance, bamboo dance, martial arts performances, singing and dancing performances in Vietnamese by children born and raised in the UK... The festival also held a banh chung wrapping competition, an event that always attracts a large number of participants and cheering audiences thanks to the appeal of the typical dish of the traditional Tet holiday.

At the event organized by the Vietnamese Family Foundation (VFP) in London, VFP also held a referendum on the symbol of Vietnamese people in Deptford - where many overseas Vietnamese live. This is a project of VFP to build the image and raise awareness of the Vietnamese community in the UK. Coming to the festival, overseas Vietnamese have the opportunity to attend the Spring Fair, shop for Tet with traditional specialties such as Tet jam, dried apricots, green tea, banh chung, pork roll, fried pork roll, cinnamon sausage, rice paper, vermicelli, rice noodles, dried pho; fresh fruits imported from Vietnam; flowers and ornamental plants such as peach, apricot, kumquat; and enjoy many Vietnamese dishes such as fried spring rolls, spring rolls, bun cha, banh cuon, banh chung, banh mi, various types of sweet soup, tofu pudding, etc. Speaking at the ceremony, Ambassador Nguyen Hoang Long highly appreciated the contributions of VFP, representatives of Vietnamese associations and volunteers in organizing the annual Tet festival and other events of overseas Vietnamese in the UK. The Ambassador affirmed that the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK always accompanies overseas Vietnamese in the UK in community activities, contributing to preserving and promoting the cultural and humanistic values of the Vietnamese people.

MP Vicky Foxcroft expressed her delight at attending the Lunar New Year celebration, thanking VFP for organizing this meaningful event as well as the organization's contributions over the years to developing and promoting the image of the Vietnamese community in Lewisham and Deptford. Ms. Quynh Giao - founder of VFP expressed her hope that this event will help connect, build and develop the Vietnamese community in the UK to become stronger. Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, a Vietnamese expatriate in London, said that this was the second year she, her British husband Darren Steven and mother-in-law Linda Islhin attended the Lunar New Year festival organized by VFP. Ms. Thuy shared that, as a daughter-in-law in England, she always kept in mind the need to preserve Vietnamese cultural traditions and tried to maintain traditional customs, especially during Tet, such as going to the Spring market, shopping for Tet, displaying fruit trays and banh chung to worship ancestors on the first day of the New Year, displaying flowers on Tet, going to the pagoda at the beginning of Spring... Ms. Thuy went to the Tet fair with her husband's family with the desire to share the beauty of Vietnamese culture and create a connection between the family and the Vietnamese community in the UK.

Meanwhile, Ms Thuy's husband, Steven, expressed his excitement at witnessing the Tet cultural activities right in the heart of London with bustling music , a joyful atmosphere and vibrant activities. Steven said he first learned about Tet when he lived in Vietnam and loved this festival, a community activity full of cultural beauty that is not available in the UK.

Steven said his family started organizing Tet activities last year, when his wife moved to the UK. His family reserved a special place in the living room to worship their ancestors. He said this is a beautiful custom of Vietnamese people during Tet, expressing gratitude to their ancestors and roots. This year, Steven's family also plans to cook banh tet, banh chung, and other traditional Tet cakes. Linda Islhin said she loves the colors and activities of the community Tet, as well as the attractive flavors of Vietnamese dishes. She said that Tet is not only a vibrant, joyful event but also has a strong family character. She attended the Tet event last year and still wants to come back this year. The community Tet festival in the UK promotes traditional cultural values of the Vietnamese people, creating a joyful, united and cohesive atmosphere in the Vietnamese community, while spreading the traditional beauty of the nation in the local community. As part of the activities to celebrate the Lunar New Year 2024, on February 3, the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK organized the wrapping of Chung cakes, creating an atmosphere of solidarity and reunion among the Embassy staff and representative agencies in the UK when Tet comes.