Lunar New Year is the biggest and most sacred festival of the year for our people, also known as “Tet To”, “New Year” or “Lunar New Year” to distinguish it from the Western New Year. Lunar New Year is the first festival that opens the year, marking the transition between the old year and the new year, the time to close the things that have gone through in the old year and wait for good things in the new year. Lunar New Year begins on December 23 of the old year and ends on January 7 of the new year with  many customary rituals taking place in the royal court as well as in folk. All work is temporarily suspended to worship ancestors and gods, rest, reunite, visit and congratulate relatives and wish for luck and good things…

It can be said that Lunar New Year is one of the festivals with many unique customs and imbued with the indigenous culture of Vietnamese people throughout the territory of Vietnam. In particular, in a land with thousands of years of civilization, the Lunar New Year culture is even richer and unique, this place is the convergence and interference between royal culture and traditional folk culture.

To promote the value of typical royal Tet rituals as well as traditional folk Tet customs of Thang Long – Dong Do – Hanoi, the Thang Long – Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center organizes a series of activities. Tet lasts from January 20, 2024 (December 10, Quy Mao year)  to February 18, 2024 (January 9, Giap Thin year) including many special activities:

1. Display of Traditional Tet Space (From January 20, 2023, the 10th day of the Year of the Cat)

1.1. Traditional folk Lunar New Year display space

Traditional folk Lunar New Year is displayed through recreating the Tet living space of a citizen family in the capital with customs such as worshiping ancestors and gods, hanging Tet paintings, and parallel sentences. Tet, lighting Tet firecrackers, wrapping banh chung, asking for New Year’s letters, wishing New Year, celebrating new year, enjoying Tet flowers… The ancient exhibition space, bearing the mark of the culture and architecture of the streets of the ancient capital.

The space of traditional Tet customs represents the busy and bustling atmosphere of the last days of the year: going to the Tet market to buy food, cleaning, decorating the family altar and house, wrapping banh chung, making sausage, etc. make jam… In every family, there is a common spirit of excitement in preparing for a prosperous and fulfilling Tet.

1.2. Royal Tet exhibition space: New Year’s Eve Ceremony during the Le Trung Hung period

Under the monarchy, the king and the court are the representatives of all people, representing the prosperity and stability of the nation. Therefore, a system of royal New Year rituals has been formed that is both solemn and dignified, demonstrating the supreme authority of the gods. During the reign of Le Trung Hung, the royal Tet ritual system included a series of rituals that took place consecutively from the end of December of the old year to the 7th of January of the new year: the worshiping ceremony of the army, the ceremony of advancing the calendar, Tien Xuan Nguu ceremony (receiving the earth buffalo and the god Cau Mang), phat thuc ceremony (cleaning and sealing seals), ca thuong ceremony (inviting the ancestors to celebrate Tet), thuong xiao ceremony (building a neu tree), ceremony Exorcism (New Year’s Eve offering), ancestor sacrifice ceremony, New Year’s Eve ceremony, king’s longevity ceremony, sacrificial ceremony (sacrifice to heaven), opening ceremony (lowering the tree), seal opening ceremony (opening the seal)… including , the New Year’s Eve ceremony is one of the most important ceremonies of the royal court.

The New Year’s Eve ceremony is held early in the morning of the first day of the New Year with a solemn and dignified Grand Dynasty ceremony, taking place at Kinh Thien palace yard. The Main Festival is a royal ceremony, an occasion for the king, the royal family and hundreds of mandarins to meet each other on the first day of the new year, together to wish the king a long life, the people to be prosperous and happy, and the commune to be strong and prosperous. . During the New Year’s Day, 12 regions throughout the country presented congratulatory statements to the King. On this occasion, the King also gave banquets and spring bonuses to civil and military mandarins. Giving banquets and giving money is a custom dating back to the Ly and Tran dynasties, showing the country’s leader’s concern for his subjects.

The New Year’s Eve ceremony is displayed and explained with 3 main contents:

The system of painted panels simulates the New Year’s Eve ceremony in the Thang Long royal court during the Le dynasty.
The space simulates the ceremony of offering the King a New Year to wish him more blessings and a long life.
A special highlight of this year is the first time a royal Tet ceremony was recreated in the form of a 3D movie presentation “Le Ching Dynasty Ceremony”. The film will bring visitors a complete and impressive 360-degree experience of sound, light, story rhythm… immersing the audience in the solemn and unique atmosphere of the New Year ceremony at the royal court. ancient times with rituals such as: Procession of Bieu into the courtyard of Kinh Thien Palace; Procession of the King’s price to Kinh Thien Palace; The king ascended the throne, civil and military mandarins came to worship; Ceremony to declare items, proclamation & Proclamation ceremony; Hundred officials congratulated the King.
Location: Traditional folk festival at 19C Hoang Dieu House reception area
Royal Tet at Kinh Thien Palace Yard Area N14

2. Exhibition “Drawing the Dragon”: Opening 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. January 20, 2024 (December 10th, year of the cat)

This is a collaboration between the Thang Long – Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center with the creative enterprise TiredCity and the Vietnam Local Artist Group (VLAG) community.

The painting exhibition with the theme “Drawing a Dragon” aims to provide an opportunity to appreciate the creative achievements of more than 25 young illustrators.

The exhibition displays 30 ILLUSTRATION WORKS from more than 25 authors across the country. These are all impressive and unique works selected from more than 350 works participating in the illustration challenge with the same theme taking place in November 2023.

Coming to the Dragon Drawing exhibition at Thang Long Imperial Citadel, viewers will be lost in the world of sacred and mystical dragon mascots based on myths in Vietnamese culture in general, and the Imperial historical relics themselves. Thang Long Citadel in particular. Shaped by the brush strokes and creative ideas of young illustrators, Dragon paintings have both a heroic atmosphere, full of national spirit, and are also close and friendly to young audiences who love literature. chemistry, art.

3. Program “Happy Tet 2024 – Spreading traditional Tet cultural identity” from January 24 – 28, 2024 (ie from December 14 – 18, Year of the Cat).

Organized by the Thang Long – Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center in coordination with the City Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center.

Happy Tet 2024 with the theme “Spreading traditional Tet cultural identity” is a unique combination of ancient Royal Tet traditions with modern Tet culture, creating a spreading, sacred and lively space. With a scale of 3,000 – 3,500m2, designed and decorated majestically, elaborately and creatively, it introduced traditional Tet holidays, tourist destinations, cultural values, heritage… regions across the country. . The program includes spaces: “Hometown Train”, “Old Hanoi House Space”, “Central Tet Space”, “Southern Tet Space”, “Ethnic Colors Tet Space”, The “cuisine promotion space” is arranged with miniature scenes introducing famous tourist destinations of Hanoi such as: Long Bien bridge, Dong Xuan market, Me Linh flower market, Tay Ho… Especially, The stalls simulate Pho Phai houses, recreating Hanoi’s Old Quarter, a bustling trade period.

In addition, at Thang Long Imperial Citadel during the Lunar New Year celebration of Giap Thin, there are also activities recreating traditional rituals such as releasing carp, erecting a tree, sealing, advancing the calendar, and the Spring Opening ceremony. and many unique traditional cultural activities.

The entire heritage area is decorated with landscapes, trees and flowers with many  flower gardens and Check-in clusters to serve tourists visiting Thang Long Imperial Citadel on the occasion of welcoming the new year.