Người Việt English

Tet 2019 in Little Saigon, Year of the Pig

Piggy Banks at Asian Garden Mall Tet 2019 market. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

Titi Mary Tran/Nguoi-Viet English

Tet. It’s that time of year when the Lunar calendar pushes aside the Gregorian calendar and brings about a celebration of fresh flowers, tropical fruits, colorful trinkets, lion dances, and a plethora of food and fortune greetings to mark the occasion.

We’re in the Tet spirit, a nostalgic taste of the homeland.

Piggy Banks and Trinkets at Asian Garden Mall Tet 2019 market and flower festival. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

Clay Piggy Trinkets at Asian Garden Mall Tet 2019 market. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

In Little Saigon, the largest concentration of Vietnamese living overseas, it’s clear the celebration has arrived, evidenced by the traffic jams and search for parking spots for people going to the once-a-year flower market at the Asian Garden Mall.

Tropical Fruit – Trái Vú Sữa. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

The inside of One of otropical Fruits at the Tet market – Trái Vú Sữa. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

Lori Kretchmer, one of the patrons at Tet market, Asian Garden Mall, tastes the Vu Sua fruit for the first time. “Its delicious, it’s mellow, different and unique, but very subtle, smooth, like cherimoya (mãn cầu xiêm) but a lot sweeter, milky,” described Kretchmer, with the help of her friend, Vanessa Le. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

Tropical fruits. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

Durians. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

These are the festivities scheduled in and around Little Saigon for Tet 2019, the Year of the Pig, meaning the year of wealth and fortune.

Tet Parade: Saturday, Feb. 9, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bolsa Avenue, from Magnolia Street to Bushard Street, Garden Grove. http://tetparade.org/info/

UVSA Tet Festival: Friday, Feb. 8, 4 to 10 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 9, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, Feb. 10, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. OC Fair and Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. https://tetfestival.org/

Mile Square Park Tet Festival: Friday, Feb. 8, 2 to 10 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 9, and Sunday, Feb. 10, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mile Square Regional Park, 16801 Euclid St., Fountain Valley. http://www.ocparks.com/events?ViewBy=7&CalDate=2/9/2019&EventDateID=374075

Phước Lộc Thọ flower. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

Orchids. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

Spring bulbs. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

Hoa Mai. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

Hoa Dao. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

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