Festive activities herald Lunar New Year of the Horse

A vibrant array of cultural and media events has been launched across Vietnam to welcome the Lunar New Year of the Horse 2026, highlighting both the country’s enduring traditions and its dynamic socio-economic progress.

Delegates cut the ribbon to launch the 46th Spring Flower Festival at Tao Dan Park. (Photo: VNA)
Delegates cut the ribbon to launch the 46th Spring Flower Festival at Tao Dan Park. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – A vibrant array of cultural and media events has been launched across Vietnam to welcome the Lunar New Year of the Horse 2026, highlighting both the country’s enduring traditions and its dynamic socio-economic progress.

On the evening of February 12, or the 25th day of the last lunar month, the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City inaugurated its 46th Spring Flower Festival at Tao Dan Park.

Spanning 9.6 hectares and running through February 22 (the sixth day of the Lunar New Year), the festival continues a nearly half-century tradition, having evolved into one of the city’s most distinctive cultural events during the Tet holiday.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Bui Xuan Cuong said that after 46 editions, the Spring Flower Festival has become more than a floral exhibition, but grown into an integral part of the city’s “Tet spirit.” Amid the pace of a modern and dynamic metropolis, the festival serves as a space where tradition converges with contemporary life and aspirations for the future.

The festival showcases thousands of orchid arrangements, bonsai works, yellow apricot blossoms, and miniature landscapes crafted by artisans from the city and across the country. Notably, this year marks the debut of nightly parades and artistic performances featuring international horse breeds, adding a fresh highlight to the celebrations.

For many residents, the Tao Dan Spring Flower Festival remains an annual rendezvous. It is expected to continue serving as a vibrant cultural and artistic space, embodying the convergence of nature’s beauty, artisans’ talent and the shared hope of millions for a prosperous and confident new year.

Also on February 12, the Hai Phong City Journalists’ Association, in coordination with the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and local media agencies, opened the Spring Press Festival alongside an exhibition highlighting the port city’s socio-economic achievements in 2025.

The event commemorates the 96th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (February 3, 1930–2026) and the 96th anniversary of the municipal Party Organisation, while celebrating the success of the 14th National Party Congress and preparing to welcome the Lunar New Year.

The Spring Press Festival features hundreds of Tet publications from Hai Phong and media outlets nationwide, offering readers a comprehensive and multidimensional overview of socio-economic development and major Party and State policies over the past year.

In addition, more than 100 outstanding photo works capturing the port city’s socio-economic achievements are on display, presenting a vivid portrait of a dynamic and modern Hai Phong./.

VNA

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A central attraction remains the traditional New Year calligraphy request activity, featuring 35 booths staffed by calligraphers selected through a rigorous, transparent evaluation process.

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Skoczek also pointed to striking similarities between Vietnam’s Tet and Poland’s Christmas Eve traditions, particularly the emphasis on family reunions, symbolic meals and shared rituals passed down through generations. Despite differences in customs and cuisine, she said the essence of the celebrations remains universal: bringing loved ones together to welcome a new start.

A Tet flower street is held for the first time at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel during the Lunar New Year 2026. (Photo: VNA)

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More than a seasonal attraction, the flower street also functions as a formal cultural venue for receiving ambassadors, their spouses and representatives of diplomatic missions attending the Vietnam Discovery Day 2026 programme. Its linkage with an external event further reinforces the Thang Long Imperial Citadel’s position as a key platform for introducing Vietnam’s cultural identity to international friends.

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Local residents and visitors can enjoy spectacular fireworks displays at locations like the Hanoi Post Office in Hoan Kiem ward; Coconut island in Thong Nhat park, Hai Ba Trung ward; the F1 racetrack area in Tu Liem ward; Lac Long Quan flower garden in Tay Ho ward; Van Quan lake in Ha Dong ward; and the Son Tay Ancient Citadel in Son Tay ward.

People visit the Spring Fair 2026. (Photo: VNA)

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Food has long occupied a central place in Vietnamese Tet culture, symbolising abundance, harmony and gratitude. At the Spring Fair 2026, traditional Tet delicacies are presented in a modern setting while retaining their familiar essence, allowing visitors to experience both nostalgia and renewal.

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Beyond cultural impressions, the fair created tangible opportunities for Hue enterprises and artisans to promote brands, connect partners and expand markets, laying foundations for deeper participation in value chains and long-term sustainable development aligned with Hue’s green growth and international integration strategy toward 2030, with a vision to 2045.

The horse-themed stamp set and commemorative coin. (Photo: VNA)

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In traditional beliefs, the horse is a sacred animal symbolising loyalty, vigour, patience and perseverance, and is also believed to bring good fortune and prosperity. Drawing on this symbolism, the stamp set is presented in a contemporary folk-art style and, for the first time, features the image of the “Nine Red-Maned Horse” on Vietnam’s Tet stamps.

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The “Homeland Spring” programme in Australia left lasting impressions, bringing the warmth of Tet to overseas Vietnamese and reaffirming that wherever they may be, Vietnamese people share common roots and an aspiration for a prosperous future.

At the Vietnamese booth at the first International Spring Festival hosted by the administration of Chongqing city, China from February 6 to 8. (Photo: VNA)

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The event brought together more than 20 foreign consulates general in Chongqing and Chengdu, along with many companies and well-known brands from the participating countries, creating a vibrant and multicultural exchange space on the occasion of the Year of the Horse.

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They affirmed that culture is the spiritual foundation and a vital endogenous strength of the nation, while underscoring the important role of overseas Vietnamese in preserving and spreading national cultural identity and promoting the image of Vietnam and its people to the world.