How one family’s dedication helped turn a small gathering into a thriving community event.
Lunar New Year is celebrated by millions of Asian Canadians each year. With traditions varying from small family gatherings to large community events, celebrants recognize the holiday in their own special ways.
For over 3,000 years, Lunar New Year has marked the start of a new year in the Chinese calendar. This traditional calendar follows a lunisolar system, meaning it is based on both the cycles of the moon and the sun. Each month begins with a new moon, and the new year is determined by the new moon closest to the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, typically between January 21 and February 20. This year, the date falls on January 29.
The term Lunar New Year encompasses multiple cultural celebrations. Many countries that historically followed the Chinese calendar, such as Vietnam and Korea, have their own names for the holiday.
The Chinese celebration is referred to as Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival. In Korea, it is called Seollal, and in Vietnam, it is known as Tết.
While the holiday shares similar themes of family, renewal, and luck, each culture has distinct traditions and customs.
For Hannah Ha, a second-year political science major, the Lunar New Year is a time of both celebration and responsibility. Her family has been organizing Saskatoon’s annual Vietnamese Tết celebration for 14 years, helping to bring the community together.
It all started in the common room at Souris Hall, a campus residence part of McEown Park. This residence is designated for students with young children, and Ha’s family lived there while her father was completing his PhD. Ha’s family was one of a few young Vietnamese families living there at the time. Ha’s mother, Elise Dang, who has become a pillar in the Vietnamese community, started the celebration with a few of her friends.
“The [common] room was free to rent, so it was very cheap. And it’s always been a potluck. So every family brings food, and you get to see all of your found family [and] fake cousins,” she says with a chuckle.
Moving from their homeland to Canada to pursue higher education was a sacrifice many Vietnamese families made for a new life and opportunities. Starting over in a foreign country can be difficult, and Ha emphasizes the importance these events have had in building community.
“We don’t have family here, so to get to make a community and spend the holidays with people that you genuinely love being around kind of fills that void. But also, I think keeping in touch with your culture is something that’s just invaluable.”
From a few families gathering in a small common room, the event has now evolved into a celebration for over 300 people. As Ha’s family ramps up to plan for the event, community members gather in what Ha jokingly refers to as a council meeting.
“The parents would just get together and discuss. ‘Okay, budget, who’s gonna do this and what?’ And we’re signing up for food, and we’re allocating roles to everyone. But it is definitely a team effort, and people are putting their own money into it most of the time.”
Attendees are also required to purchase tickets in advance to help cover costs. Organizers don’t take any cut, so any extra funds go towards next year’s event.
Ha adds: “It also has turned into a thing that supports businesses of other Vietnamese people like the caterers that my mom will buy from and book from.”
On the day, tables filled with traditional food such as bánh chưng (sticky rice mung bean cake), nem (spring rolls), and xôi gấc (red sticky rice) stretch across the room. Attendees dress in traditional Vietnamese attire such as the áo dài or áo gấm, and lì xì (“lucky money,” usually a few dollars) is handed out in red envelopes to children.
Although the event is growing every year, Ha noticed that some parents are leaving their kids at home. To keep these traditions alive and involve younger generations, Ha says it’s helped “giving [the kids] a role to do in setting up. My [little] sister and all her friends have many ‘exec’ roles. I think that makes you value it a lot more when you realize how much work goes into it.”
Karaoke, face painting, crafts, and games are other activities available to draw children to the event, and all ages look forward to the dragon dancing performance, one of the most exciting parts of the night.
Ha’s mother also reaches out to Vietnamese international students.
“It is really nice for the newer Vietnamese people that have just come here to have something like that. You make a lot of friends out of the new immigrants that are coming. And then they have community and they have some people that they get to know,” Ha says.
There is an official Vietnamese Association of Saskatoon that also puts on a Tết celebration open to the public. Ha’s family went to their event this year where they met the newly appointed Mayor, Cynthia Block, who was in attendance. Ha’s family’s version, however, remains at its core a gathering for friends and the tight-knit Vietnamese community.
About her mother, Ha says, “She’ll never say this herself, but she definitely puts a lot of herself into keeping this up.”
As Saskatoon’s Vietnamese Tết celebration continues to grow, its role in fostering community remains strong. What began as a small gathering among friends has expanded into a key cultural event for local Vietnamese families, students, and newcomers. While the scale of the celebration has changed, its purpose remains the same—bringing people together, preserving traditions, and passing them on to the next generation.
Happy Lunar New Year! Chúc mừng năm mới!