Planning to visit Vietnam in 2019? Get the most out of your experience! Learn here about the most important holidays in Vietnam - fast and easy with VietnamesePod101!
| February 3, 2019 | Communist Party of Vietnam Foundation Anniversary |
| February 5, 2019 | Tet holiday |
| March 8, 2019 | International Women’s Day |
| April 25, 2019 | Hung Kings’ Temple Festival |
| April 30, 2019 | Reunification Day |
| May 1, 2019 | International Workers’ Day |
| May 7, 2019 | Dien Bien Phu Victory Day |
| May 19, 2019 | President Ho Chi Minh’s Birthday |
| May 29, 2019 | Buddha’s Birthday |
| June 1, 2019 | International Children’s Day |
| July 27, 2019 | Day for Martyrs and Wounded Soldiers |
| August 19, 2019 | August Revolution Commemoration Day |
| September 2, 2019 | Vietnam National Day |
| September 24, 2019 | Mid-Autumn Festival |
| October 10, 2019 | Capital Liberation Day |
| October 20, 2019 | Vietnamese Women’s Day |
| November 20, 2019 | Teacher’s Day |
| December 22, 2019 | National Defence Day |
How well do you know holidays in Vietnam?
In this article, you learn all about the top Vietnam holidays and the traditions and history behind them. Check the must-know Vietnamese vocabulary for popular holidays in Vietnam too!
That way, you can easily talk about Vietnamese holidays while improving your vocabulary and overall speaking skills. You will pick up key vocab, phrases, and cultural insights you won’t find in a textbook.
Perfect for any student interested in learning more about Vietnamese culture. We will teach you the what, why, when and how of Vietnam holidays.
The Communist Party of Vietnam, also referred to as the CPV, is an important aspect of life in Vietnam. It was officially founded in 1930 by Phan Bội Châu, and it holds a National Congress every five years to make important decisions. This day commemorates its founding.
The Lunar New Year is the most important holiday of the year for Vietnamese people. Lunar New Year’s Eve is a popular time for family reunions. Families often prepare two trays of food to worship their ancestors and the Earth gods at the stroke of midnight. Right at the turn of the new year, “fireworks” (pháo hoa) are set off from city centers, and people all over the city rush to the top of high buildings to watch them. On the first day of the Tet Holiday, Vietnamese people have a custom of wishing everyone a Happy New Year. Young people will wish Happy New Year to their grandparents and parents, and adults often give money to children, wrapped in red envelopes.
International Women’s Day is one of great importance to women of Vietnam, as they’ve struggled for years to attain equality with men and usurp mistreatment and sexist thinking from men. While great progress has been made, there’s still room for improvement, and International Women’s Day is a great opportunity for this cause to be brought into the spotlight each year. It’s common for women to receive gifts such as flowers and cards on this day as a show of appreciation, and even more common for women to bring encouragement and motivation to other women.
“Hung Kings Commemorations,” or Ngày Giỗ tổ Hùng Vương, is a festival in Vietnam held from March 3 to 11 in the lunar calendar. This day has been recognized as one of Vietnam’s national holidays. The Hung Kings are the children of Lac Long Quan, who was known as the dragon king from the sea, and Au Co who was a beautiful fairy from the mountain. According to legend, long ago a King called Lang Lieu created rice cakes called bánh chưng bánh dày and the Hung Kings taught Vietnamese people how to grow “rice plants,” called lúa in Vietnamese. Thus, one of the main ways Vietnamese people observe this holiday is by preparing a tray of five fruits, rice cake, and rice itself.
“National Reunification Day, “or Ngày thống nhất đất nước in Vietnamese, is the day when the chiến tranh Việt Nam, meaning “Vietnam War,” ended, and the President and cabinet of the Republic of Vietnam were arrested. They declared unconditional surrender to the forces of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front of Southern Vietnam on the morning of April 30, 1975. Due to its great significance, the State and Vietnamese people celebrate this holiday with grand activities in the State’s agencies and companies every year. Singing and dancing activities related to this event are held in “public places” or địa điểm công cộng, including squares and central city areas.
After the success of the August Revolution, President Ho Chi Minh signed a decree announcing that May 1 would become an official holiday, and workers and laborers nationwide would receive a ngày nghỉ, which means “a day off. “Since then, May 1 has become one of Vietnam’s annual official holidays. Today, banners are hung in the streets of big cities to celebrate this occasion. On this day, local TV channels broadcast many State agencies’ holiday celebration activities, and all laborers are allowed to take paid leave.
On this day, Vietnam celebrates its victory in the Dien Bien Phu battle against the French in 1954. This was able to happen when the Viet Minh attacked the French where they gathered near Dien Bien Phu. This ultimately led to the Geneva Accords being signed, which ended the war.
One of the people who played the most vital roles in Vietnam’s history is Ho Chi Minh. He’s revered and loved by the whole population of Vietnam. With his talented guidance, Ho Chi Minh led the Vietnamese nation to winning and seizing “independence” (độc lập), “freedom” (tự do), and “unification” (thống nhất). Each year on May 19, many activities are held across the country in memory of President Ho Chi Minh. Photo contests and documentary exhibitions about the President receive warm responses, and many people across the country visit Nam Đàn in Nghệ An to express their gratitude to the great leader.
In Vietnam, Buddha’s birthday is celebrated rather lavishly. Temples like to host celebrations, while some people choose to celebrate with parades involving lanterns and various floats.
“International Children’s Day,” or Ngày Quốc tế thiếu nhi in Vietnamese, is a holiday to celebrate “children,” or trẻ em, who will inherit the society we create for them. At the same time, it’s also a day to remind people about how to protect and take better care of children. Nowadays, children excitedly participate in school activities such as singing and dancing, and obedient children will usually receive presents from their teachers. Parents often take their children to the “zoo, “or vườn bách thú, and “game centers, ” or trung tâm trò chơi, to spend the day playing.
Every year on July 27, Vietnam celebrates “Invalids and Martyrs Day,” in Vietnamese ngày Thương Binh - Liệt sĩ. This is an occasion to commemorate those who died defending Vietnam during its “wars,” or chiến tranh in Vietnamese. Nowadays, each year on this day, officials at every level of government take part in visiting, cleaning, and decorating graves and burning incense for veterans in “cemeteries,” or nghĩa trang. During most of Vietnam’s wartime history, there were many soldiers who fell without any personal information known about them, so later monuments to unnamed martyrs were built to commemorate them.
This significant Vietnamese holiday commemorates August 19, 1945, when Việt Minh gained control of Hanoi just days after Japan’s surrender in World War II.
On September 2, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh read the Vietnamese “Declaration of Independence,” or bản tuyên ngôn độc lập, in a meeting held at Ba Dinh square in Hanoi. In the declaration, Ho Chi Minh declared the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to the people of Vietnam and to the world. The National Day celebrations are usually held in a formal manner in Vietnam Embassies in many countries around the world. To celebrate National Day, families, stores, and shopping centers everywhere display Vietnam’s national flag, with its red background and yellow star.
“The Mid-Autumn Festival,” called Tết Trung thu in Vietnamese, is the festival created in honor of the moon held each year on lunar August 15. Every year, streets with toy vendors and cake shops become especially crowded and busy. This is because the Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most popular times for adults to give children toys, such as “masks” (mặt nạ), “lanterns” (đèn lồng), and other “modern toys,” referred to as đồ chơi, which include things like miniature airplanes, cars, and dolls. When the moon rises high in the sky and is most visible, it’s finally time to serve out the Mid-Autumn Festival cakes and fruit. Mid-Autumn offerings usually also contain grapefruits in the shape of dogs, red kaki fruits, fish-shaped sticky rice cakes, and pig-shaped mooncakes.
This holiday essentially commemorates the day that Hanoi became under the control of Vietnam, instead of the French or Japanese, on October 10, 1945.
“Vietnamese Women’s Day,” in Vietnamese called ngày Phụ nữ Việt Nam, is a holiday held on October 20 every year in order to honor women. Every October 20, many government agencies, companies, and organizations hold various activities to celebrate women, including giving awards, or giải thưởng in Vietnamese, to outstanding women who have achieved great things in certain areas. The period surrounding this day is an especially popular time to buy jewelry and flowers, the typical gifts most people buy to show admiration for the important women in their lives.
“Vietnam Teacher’s Day,” or ngày Nhà giáo Việt Nam in Vietnamese, is a festival to honor those who work in the field of education. This day is an opportunity for many generations of students to express their gratitude to their “teachers,” in Vietnamese called giáo viên in general or nhà giáo in a respectful way. On this day, students visit, give flowers to, and send greetings to their current or former teachers. Many people who have already graduated still come to visit their old schools and teachers, so this day usually becomes an opportunity for “class reunions,” or họp lớp, in which graduates reunite, relive old memories, and talk about their current lives.
National Defence Day in Vietnam serves as the commemoration of when the People’s Army of Vietnam was established, in 1944. It’s called the Việt Minh by some due to its involvement in the French-Indochina War. This day is also a day to celebrate the defense it provides for the country.
You may ask why it is advantageous to know Vietnamese holidays. There are a number of good reasons!
If you’re keen to learn Vietnamese on your own, there are a number of ways to do this. Why not choose holidays as a theme? You can start by learning about the Vietnamese culture, so find a video or TV program about holidays in Vietnam. Better still - find a video or program about holidays in Vietnamese, and watch it a few times! That way your ear will get used to the spoken language. You could also watch Vietnamese movies without subtitles, as this too will train your ear to what correct Vietnamese sounds like.
If you’re more advanced in Vietnamese, you can practice your writing skills by writing a letter to your Vietnamese friend about the holidays video. Or write a short review of the video, and post it on social media! Imagine how impressed your friends will be!
Practice your Vietnamese pronunciation, and record yourself talking about your holiday in Vietnam. Pronouncing words correctly in any language is very important, or you may find yourself saying things you don’t mean!
If you’re an absolute beginner, it would be best to start with a book, a CD series, free PDF cheat sheets and preferably your Vietnamese friend who can help you. Or, you can start with VietnamesePod101, for free!
Holidays in Vietnam can also be the perfect opportunity to practice your Vietnamese! For the best experience, make sure to master at least Level 1 of your Vietnamese lessons here on VietnamesePod101 before you go on holiday to Vietnam. Then don’t be shy! Use it with every native speaker you encounter in every situation. Practicing continuously to speak a language is one of the most important habits if you want to become fluent. Or, if you’re a new subscriber to VietnamesePod101 in a hurry to get to Vietnam, study Absolute Beginner Vietnamese for Every Day to help you get by as a traveller - you will be surprised how far a little Vietnamese can go!
VietnamesePod101 is uniquely geared to help you master relevant, everyday vocabulary and phrases, pronounced correctly and in the right context - this will set you on the right track. Our courses are perfectly designed to help you in fun ways!
But do have a holiday first. Ideally you will enjoy a different culture with a visit, and enrich your life in ways you cannot imagine. Don’t wait till 2020 to learn Vietnamese through VietnamesePod101 though - it will open a whole new world for you!
No comments so far.