The Tết Festival 2020 in HCM City will be open from January 3 to January 5. — VNS Photo

HCM CITY — A new Tết (Lunar New Year) Festival 2020 will be organised in HCM City from January 3 to January 5 next year to honor Việt Nam’s cultural and culinary values.

The Vietnam Culinary Culture Association, in coordination with the HCM City Department of Tourism, is organising the festival, which is scheduled to take place at Lê Văn Tám Park with five major activities: Tết rituals, food, games and performances, and a Tết market.

The festival will be targeted to younger generations and will be about customs, stories and myths related to Tết.

Le Tan, vice president and general secretary of the association, and general director of Tết Festival, said the event would help stimulate young generations’ love for culture and national pride.

“If young people and foreigners are able to experience, understand and love Việt Nam's traditional activities, then we will have done our job well!” said Lê Tân.

Stories about Tết will be dramatised and displayed in objects for spectators to enjoy. Vietnamese culinary arts will be combined with Tết folk games to help children and tourists understand the Vietnamese Tết.

Nguyễn Quốc Kỳ, chairman of the Vietnam Culinary Culture Association, and co-organiser of Tết Festival 2020, said the festival was a good starting point for future programmes to promote Vietnamese culture and cuisine.

The festival also aims to help HCM City in particular and Vietnam, in general, attract more international tourists through cultural and culinary experiences in festive activities.

The festival will be free of charge to the public. It is expected to attract more than 40,000 visitors during its three days.

The HCM City Department of Tourism said it would be held yearly on the weekend of the first week of the twelfth lunar month to enable families and tourists to experience the Tết Holiday, have fun, and go shopping before the official holiday period takes place.

Hoàng Vũ, director of the Department of Tourism, said the city would organise a series of other international festivals to promote Vietnamese cultural values. — VNS