This year’s Tết Festival celebrating the Vietnamese Lunar New Year is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. this weekend at the Seattle Center Armory Food & Event Hall and Fisher Pavilion.
David Conger
Seattle Center Festál kicks off the 2023 festival series with the 27th Tết in Seattle – Vietnamese Lunar New Year from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Seattle Center Armory Food & Event Hall and Fisher Pavilion. The festival is free, family-friendly and open to the public.
Tết in Seattle provides a glimpse into the rich Vietnamese culture through amazing art, food and music, as well as age-old and contemporary cultural traditions. Its annual health fair will be returning with free services and screenings for eye health, osteoporosis and more.
The engaging two-day event is produced by Tết in Seattle (T-I-S), a volunteer-based community organization, which honors the culture of Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans in the Pacific Northwest.
This year’s festival will have special-live performances from Anh Minh and Ha Thanh Xuan, lion dances, local food vendors, art exhibits, a fashion show, hands-on activities for kids and family-oriented events for all to enjoy.
This festival is the first in a series of festivals put on by 24 cultural organizations that Seattle Center will host over the course of 2023.
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 and 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.
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 tetinseattle.org/ and seattlecenter.com/events/featured-events/festal/tet-in-seattle, as well as on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.