Which Vietnamese holiday name is commonly shortened to Tết?

The Vietnamese holiday commonly shortened to Tết is Tết Nguyên Đán. It is Vietnam’s Lunar New Year celebration and the country’s most important traditional festival.

The full name refers to the first day of the new year and is written with Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary. In everyday Vietnamese, Tết alone generally means this New Year holiday, although the word can appear in the names of other festivals. For example, Tết Trung Thu is the Mid-Autumn Festival, not Lunar New Year.

Tết follows the Vietnamese lunisolar calendar and usually begins in late January or February. Celebrations include family reunions, ancestor veneration, house cleaning, special foods, fireworks, and visits to relatives. Children and older family members may receive lucky money in red envelopes, while the first visitor entering a home is traditionally thought to influence the household’s luck.

Vietnamese New Year often coincides with Chinese New Year, but the dates can occasionally differ because the two calendars use different time zones and calendar conventions. Vietnam also has distinctive traditions and zodiac variations, including the Cat in place of the Rabbit in its zodiac cycle.