Festival Celebrates Vietnamese Lunar New Year and
Year of the Dragon on February 3 and 4
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SEATTLE – Seattle Center Festál kicks off the 2024 festival series with the 28th Tết in Seattle – Vietnamese Lunar New Year, presented this year by Hermann Law Group, on Feb. 3 and 4, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Seattle Center Armory Food & Event Hall and Fisher Pavilion. The festival is free, family-friendly, and open to the public.
“Our festival is unique and thrives on the collective passion of volunteers dedicated to upholding and promoting the vibrant Vietnamese traditions and culture,” said Michelle Tran, Festival Co-Producer. “This year, attendees can eagerly anticipate an immersive experience filled with cultural exhibitions, interactive events, and live performances throughout the two-day festival.”
Tết in Seattle – Vietnamese Lunar New Year was one of the original cultural festivals that helped the City of Seattle launch Festál in 1997. The multi-generational event brings together the regional community in celebration and provides a glimpse into many rich Vietnamese cultural and artistic traditions. The annual health fair will also return with free services and screenings for eye health, osteoporosis, and more.
The dynamic two-day event is produced by Tết in Seattle (TIS), a volunteer-based community organization, that honors the culture of Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans in the Pacific Northwest.
“Our vision for One Seattle is bringing communities together to celebrate the cultural diversity that strengthens our city,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell. “The Tết Festival uplifts Vietnamese and Vietnamese American communities and creates the opportunity for Seattleites of all backgrounds a chance to immerse themselves in the Vietnamese culture and traditions through art, food, and music. I encourage all residents and visitors of Seattle to stop by and enjoy the festivities, as well as other Festál events hosted throughout the year as we celebrate the people, places, stories and traditions of our diverse communities here in the Pacific Northwest.”
This year’s festival includes special live performances from Hướng Việt Performing Arts Group, and features four different headline singers: Lê Toàn, Lưu Bích (performing on Saturday), Crystal Mai, and Như Ý (performing on Sunday). Lion Dances can be enjoyed throughout the weekend with performances by Mak Fai, Gia Đình Phật Tử Vạn Hạnh, and Gia Đình Phật Tử Liễu Quán. The festival will also offer cuisine from 10+ local restaurants, a vendor market, an art exhibit, a fashion show, a spelling bee competition, hands-on activities for kids, and family-oriented events for all to enjoy.
“We are excited to host Tết in Seattle as our inaugural Festál festival of the year,” said Marshall Foster, Seattle Center Director. “With Tết in Seattle kicking off 2024, I welcome everyone out to Seattle Center to enjoy and experience all the rich Vietnamese culture and traditions that make Tết in Seattle so special.
This festival is the first in a series of festivals presented by 24 cultural organizations that Seattle Center will host throughout 2024.
About Tết History
Tết occurs on the first day of the Lunar New Year, typically in late January or early February, and is celebrated for three to five days. During this period, families reunite, put aside the past year’s struggles, and pray for blessings in the year to come. Homes are cleaned, fresh clothes are donned, and streets are decorated in preparation for Tết. In every home, altars are set up to welcome ancestors with a full spread of Vietnamese dishes unique to Tết, such as banh tết, banh chung, and more.
About Tết Festival
Tết in Seattle was formed in 1996 by four Vietnamese organizations invested in celebrating and preserving traditional Vietnamese culture in the Seattle community. The groups hoped to host an event which would unite the Vietnamese community and introduce that community to the greater Seattle area. Observance of the Lunar New Year, Tết Nguyên Đán, presented the perfect opportunity to do so. Information on Tết in Seattle is available at https://www.tetinseattle.org/ and http://www.seattlecenter.com/events/featured-events/festal/tet-in-seattle, as well as on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
About Seattle Center Festál
Seattle Center Festál is where the world gathers to celebrate the people, the places, the stories, and the traditions of diverse ethnic communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. This unique series links together 24 free festivals, each offering its own cultural focus, identity, and range of engaging activities to cultivate a deeper understanding of the diversity of our region. Seattle Center Festál is produced in partnership with community groups, presented on weekends from February to November, and supported by City of Seattle, Seattle Center Foundation, and 4Culture. Festál is also part of the ArtsFund Cultural Partners Network.
About Seattle Center
Connect to the extraordinary at Seattle Center, an active civic, arts, and family gathering place in the core of our city and region. Seattle Center’s 74-acre campus, centered around the International Fountain, is part of the Uptown Arts & Cultural District and home to Climate Pledge Arena; more than 30 cultural, educational, sports, and entertainment organizations; and a broad range of public and community programs. In everything it does, Seattle Center’s mission is to create exceptional events, experiences, and environments which delight and inspire the human spirit to build stronger communities.
Seattle Center has expanded its role to provide maintenance and public safety services for Seattle’s new Waterfront Park, a series of new public spaces on Seattle’s downtown waterfront between Pioneer Square and the Seattle Aquarium. Seattle Center supports managing these new waterfront public spaces in partnership with the non-profit Friends of Waterfront Seattle, which offers the community a range of recreational and cultural programming.
Thanks to the support of Official Seattle Center Partners – Alaska Airlines, The Climate Pledge, Coors Light, Pepsi, Premera Blue Cross, Symetra, T-Mobile, and WaFd Bank – Seattle Center is the #1 arts and entertainment destination in the Pacific Northwest with 12 million annual visitors, generating $1.864 billion in business activity and more than $631 million in labor income annually. www.seattlecenter.com
