Chapman’s Vietnamese Student Association celebrates Tết festivities across Orange County

Westminster’s Little Saigon Parade was scheduled to start at 9 a.m., but in typical Vietnamese fashion, it was not until two hours later that the first firecracker ignited.

Among the mixture of casually dressed spectators and families clad in áo dài — a Vietnamese garment — a man yelled, “Stop talking and start the parade already!” After another half-hour of speeches, firecracker and cigarette smoke filled the air as drummers, dancers and military veterans began their progression down Bolsa Ave.

Spectators swarmed sidewalks to witness the first Little Saigon Parade following the COVID-19 pandemic for the Year of the Tiger. Orange County is home to one of the largest populations of Vietnamese people outside of Vietnam, so it is only natural for Tết to span several days and cities. 

Kelly Pham, a senior health science major and president of Chapman’s Vietnamese Student Association, told The Panther why she loves celebrating Tết.

“I just love hanging out with like-minded individuals, whether it be recruiting people from VSA to going to the Tet festival (or) teaching people who are not Vietnamese about our culture — like bringing my Filipino boyfriend to Phước Lộc Thọ,” Pham said. 

The epicenter of the event is a Vietnamese hub named Phước Lộc Thọ, or Asian Garden Mall, in Westminster. The Union of Vietnamese Student Associations (UVSA) Tết Festival also occurred Feb. 5-6 at the OC Fair and Event Center — a celebration uniting Vietnamese Student Associations across schools in Orange County. 

As a school with a proud Vietnamese population, Chapman’s VSA participated in both of these events. 

Pham and Vice President Sharon Nguyen, a senior biology major, held a UVSA flag as they walked in the Little Saigon Parade. Neither of them had previously taken part in the parade, but once she was dressed up in her áo dài, Sharon Nguyen told The Panther she felt “powerful.”

Victoria Nguyen, a senior performance major and VSA’s culture chair, told The Panther that the ability for Vietnamese residents of Orange County to have a celebration outside the confines of their homes is refreshing.

“This is the first year that I will be (participating in these events),” Victoria said. “Usually, I don’t really go to Tết festivals. Usually, (I’ll) go to family members’ houses, but this year with everything being back in person, I feel a new motivation to see everything.” 

Less than ten miles from Westminster, Erica Hu, VSA’s Intercollegiate Council representative, also marched in a parade at the UVSA Tết Festival at the OC Fair. As someone who is not Vietnamese, the senior strategic and corporate communication major said she appreciates VSA for exposing her to a culture outside of her Shanghainese heritage.

“I’ve been involved with this more than my own culture recently, but I think it’s cool because it’s expanding my perspective on different cultures,” Hu said. 

Pham, Sharon Nguyen and Hu gathered after the Little Saigon Tết Parade to operate a bean bag toss booth at the OC Fair. The booth, stationed beside a pho-eating contest, handed out prizes from squishy animal toys to custom Chapman VSA stickers.

Kacie Nguyen, a sophomore pharmacy major, was purposeful when creating the Chapman VSA stickers for the event. The design depicts a dragon dancing inside a cup of boba, but the boba is replaced by the cabbages that would typically be fed to dragon dancers. 

“The whole thing was to embody the dragon dancing show, while also picking very obvious, representative colors of the Lunar New Year,” Kacie Nguyen said.

Hu said that it was important for Chapman to participate in the Tết Festival to build stronger connections with other schools around the area.

“I feel a heavy responsibility to include (VSA) in a lot of other things, so I really encouraged us to join (the) Tết festival,” Hu said. “I really encouraged us to join (the) Tết festival, just so we can get involved in these other things, but also because it’s (the) Tết festival. (It’s) for Vietnamese people, right? It kind of just seems like it should be a thing.” 

Victoria Nguyen said she approved Chapman’s involvement in the UVSA Tết Festival. The event was one stop among many in her Tết festival-hopping agenda, which she and her friends prepared for by going áo dài shopping.

“Tết is like Christmas basically,” Victoria Nguyen said. “It’s the better Christmas, in my opinion, because it feels more homey to me. Christmas is fun, but Tết really feels like home.”

Instead of Christmas carols, the Vietnamese community grooves to the drum beat accompanying the lion dancers. Snow becomes red firecracker wrappers — a sight familiar to every Vietnamese person who celebrates Tết. Gifts come in the form of money-filled red envelopes that are received from elders with two hands and a wish for health. 

“Being Viet — it rocks,” Pham said. “I think (people are) jealous, if anything.”