A Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tet) festival that features art performances, fashion shows, folk games, trade promotion, and cultural activities is scheduled to take place in the Japanese city of Amagasaki on February 3 - 4 ahead of the Lunar New Year’s Eve, VOV reported.

The program is to take place as part of activities to celebrate Tet - the biggest annual activity of the year for Vietnamese people worldwide.

The program is organized by the Japan - Vietnam Trade Association with the sponsorship of Amagasaki City and the Vietnamese Consulate General in Osaka.

This year, the program also has the companionship of the Vietnamese Association in Kansai, the Vietnamese Association in Kobe, the Reiwa - International Business Innovation Association, the Japan-Vietnam Support Association, and the Kansai Vietnam-Japan Cultural and Sports Exchange Association.

Calligraphy writing will be performed at the program "Homeland Spring - Vietnamese Tet Amagasaki 2024".

Highlights of the event include a Vietnam-Japan Ao Dai beauty pageant and a Vietnamese fashion show.

Through the beauty pageant, organizers aim to seek outstanding faces to represent Vietnam at cultural promotion and trade exchanges in Japan.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese fashion show will introduce Ao Dai (traditional long dress) and other national costumes to visitors on an outdoor stage.

Moreover, there will be dozens of booths set up to introduce Vietnamese and Japanese dishes, high-quality products, and handicrafts from both countries.

Nem con (throwing a sacred ball through a ring), nhay sap (dance between bamboo poles), and several Vietnamese folk games will be arranged.

An art program will also be put on by Vietnamese artists, models, and actors, as well as representatives from the Vietnamese community.

Pham Thi Thu Huyen, president of the Japan - Vietnam Trade Association, head of the organizing committee of the upcoming program, said that they wish to create the largest Tet event of the Vietnamese community in Vietnam. Japan, aims to build the program into an annual, large-scale event to promote Vietnamese culture to the Japanese people. At the same time, enhancing exchanges and promoting cultural and commercial development cooperation between the two countries in general and the Japanese-Vietnamese business community in particular.

In related news, the annual “Xuân Quê Hương” (Homeland Spring), the biggest cultural event for overseas Vietnamese (OVs) as part of the Lunar New Year festival, will take place in Ho Chi Minh City on February 1 - 2 with the participation of about 1,000 Vietnamese expatriates.

Highlights of the programme will be ancestral incense offering at the National Historical and Cultural Park, and tours of major cultural and historical landmarks, along with activities to connect Vietnamese expats and local people.

State President Vo Van Thuong and his wife are set to host several events, including paying tribute to President Ho Chi Minh, releasing carps for the Land Genie, and a Kitchen Gods worshipping ritual.

Held for the first time in 2008, the program, a joint effort between the Foreign Ministry and competent agencies, has drawn the participation of a large number of OVs from all over the world returning to their homeland to celebrate the lunar New Year festival.

There are currently around 5.3 million Vietnamese people living and working in more than 130 countries and territories worldwide. They have played an important role in both maintaining and promoting the national great solidarity bloc.

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