Many Westerners picture the goat as a symbol of ornery uncooperativeness. But this Saturday, greater Boston’s Vietnamese community will welcome in the Year of the Goat, expecting 365 days of tranquility and peace.
Organizers expect about 5,000 to flock to the Boston Teacher’s Union hall this Valentine’s Day to celebrate Tet in Boston (TIB), a day-long festival that remains the largest Vietnamese gathering of any kind in New England.
Tet is shorthand for “Tet Nguyen Dan,” which means “the first morning of the first day” of the new lunar year. The moveable New Year’s holiday falls somewhere in late January or early February on the Gregorian calendar. In 2015, Tet technically will arrive on Feb. 19, but TIB had to schedule their festivities on Valentine’s Day to better accommodate those who are only free on the weekends.
According to social historians, “Tet is the festival which epitomizes the identity of Vietnamese culture. Although the Lunar New Year is observed in all of East Asia influenced by Chinese civilization, each country celebrates it in a way peculiar to that country by making it conform to its psyche and historico-geographical conditions. Many rites, festivities, and practices of Vietnamese TET are quite distant variants of the Chinese model.”
TIB is a volunteer-run event organized by the Vietnamese American Community of Massachusetts (VACM) and the Intercollegiate Vietnamese Student Association (IVSA) of New England.
Jeannie Do, a Dorchester resident and president of IVSA, and David Vo, a former Dot resident, co-chair the Tet in Boston Planning Committee, which has overall responsibility for the festival.
On the subcommittees are others with special ties to Dorchester: Vu Ngo, co-chair of the Entertainment sub-committee and Binh Nguyen, president of VACM, is on the Vendor Management Committee.
The young professionals who are the main organizers strive for a balance between the interests of the older and younger generations. Among this year’s innovations is an exhibit of cultural artifacts from the pre-1979 war era, including mopeds and the engine from a boat used to escape from Vietnam.
The Dot-based New Brothers band will be the house band playing covers of pop songs in English and backing up vocalists, largely area college vocalists, who will sing in Vietnamese and English.
Professional singers include locals Ngoc Diem and Thien Khan, and two guests from California, Pham Tuan Ngoc and Vuong Dzung Traditional dances will be performed by students from Boston University, Northeastern University, and the Vietnamese Buddhist Youth Group.
Among the Boston-based media agencies publicizing the event are Tieng Nuoc Toi Radio and Saigon Broadcasting Television Network.
The 11 a.m. opening ceremonies involve the formal exchange of New Year’s greetings. Organizers expect several state, city, and religious leaders to speak. Dorchester politicians, including state Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry, state Rep. Dan Hunt, and City Councillors Frank Baker, Charles Yancey, Ayanna Pressley, and Stephen Murphy, will join local CDC heads and a host of other officials to participate in the proceedings.
Local businesses and agencies are eager to tap into this huge community event. Vo originally limited the number of exhibitors to 35, but was forced to accommodate 52 while subsequently turning away other Johnny-come-latelies.
For many, the passing on of traditions remains the major focus of the gathering. Grandparents distribute “lucky money” in red envelopes. A calligraphy expert from Washington will teach children this ancient art. Folks hang prayer wishes in Vietnamese or English from strings on the wall. Plenty of eggrolls and spring rolls will be consumed.
The eyes of some adults might mist up with childhood memories when they flash back to their own youths as their offspring learn to play the ancient children’s game “Close the eyes and catch the goat.”
