On January 30, the Vietnamese community in the UK celebrated the Lunar New Year in London with the participation of more than 1,000 overseas Vietnamese living in the UK.
This is the biggest Lunar New Year festival of the Vietnamese community in the UK to date, the event is organized by the Vietnamese Family Partnership (VFP), Vietnam Business Association in the UK (VBUK) and Vietnamese Nail Association (NVA). It was also co-organized with the support of the Embassy of Vietnam in the UK.
The event was attended by Ms. Debbie Weekes-Bernard, Deputy Mayor of the City of London, and Ms. Vicky Foxcroft, MP for Deptford, reflecting the interest of local government figures in the Vietnamese community in the UK.
With many diverse and rich activities such as the lion dance, martial arts performance, traditional dance; “banh chung” cake wrapping contest, “ao dai “ performance contest, tug of war; chess competition and games such as using chopsticks to pick up peanuts, crabs, shrimp, fish; handicrafts display areas, ao dai, apricot flowers, peach blossoms and landscape pictures.
The festival upholds the traditional cultural values of the Vietnamese people, creating an atmosphere of joy, solidarity and cohesion in the Vietnamese community on the most special occasion of the year for every Vietnamese person, regardless of whether they live in any other country or in the world, nowhere in the world is it not celebrated.
At the festival, overseas Vietnamese also have the opportunity to buy many traditional products imported from Vietnam, such as: Tet jam, peanut candy; mirror candy, dry pho; noodle soup, vermicelli; dry rice paper, coffee Meet More and much more agricultural products. Especially the ST 25 rice, as they were imported into the UK for the first time. The ST 25 rice is labelled the most delicious rice.
Attending the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK, Nguyen Hoang Long, emphasised that the Lunar New Year festival is not only an important event expected by overseas Vietnamese in the UK but also a big event of the Embassy and associations.
The Ambassador highly appreciated VFP’s contributions in preserving traditional culture by organizing meaningful activities for the Vietnamese community in the UK such as the Lunar New Year festival, and expressed his wish to the Vietnamese community. The Vietnamese community in the UK will contribute to promoting the good relationship between Vietnam and the UK.
Debbie Weekes-Bernard, Deputy Mayor of the City of London, said it was a pleasure to attend such a great cultural event of the Vietnamese community. What impressed her about Vietnamese New Year was the connection between generations in Vietnamese families from grandparents, parents, to children when they attended the event together to welcome a new year.
Ms. Vicky Foxcroft, MP for Deptford, said that the Lunar New Year festival brings a joyful atmosphere and optimistic spirit of Vietnamese people. She said she was very impressed with Vietnamese dishes, especially banh chung, which was meticulously prepared with many ingredients and boiled for up to 12 hours.
According to Ms. Quynh Nguyen, founder of VFP, every year VPF organizes the Lunar New Year, but this is the largest-scale festival ever, attracting the participation and support of more than 60 businesses and organisations, and hundreds of volunteers. She expressed her hope that this annual event will continue to expand in size, attracting and connecting the Vietnamese community in the UK.
The Lunar New Year is the most anticipated event of the year for the Vietnamese community in the UK, attracting not only overseas Vietnamese but also locals. In the festive atmosphere of Tet, we welcome the new year with many new wishes as well as new opportunities. The Vietnamese community in the UK believes that important cooperation steps between the two countries will bring more achievements in the year of the Tiger.
Videographer: Erolle Del Rosario
Photographer: Monika Schaible, Vu Kim Thanh
Director: Ha Hoang
Production: Anna Foundation
Venue: Deptford Lounge -London