UD VSA’s Gather for Tet
Submitted by Anh Ho
In celebration of the Lunar New Year, the University of Delaware’s Vietnamese Student Association hosted a spectacular event called Gather for Tet. This culturally enticing event shared many traditions of Vietnamese culture, as well as other Asian groups. Celebrating the year of the tiger, UDVSA provided us with a full and fun itinerary.
Up first were games that involve their audience. Volunteers came up to play a spelling game of different Vietnamese words as well as words that pertain to the history of UDVSA. Both alumni and current students participated in this portion of the night.
The spelling game was followed by a traditional spring dance that celebrates the new year and wishes everyone good wealth, health, and happiness. The dancers wore a traditional gown called an Áo dài. The spring dance was a fantastic way to start off the new year as energy radiated off the stage.
Next was a UD alumnus, the co-founder of UDVSA, Brittany Pham. She sang two beautiful songs in Vietnamese. The songs were very symbolic of the spring time which fit the occasion as the Gathering for Tet prepared for the springtime.
In the spirit of celebrating Asian cultures, UDVSA had their very first fashion show which included cultures throughout the continent of Asia. The various countries and gowns included Philippines, the barong; China, the qipao; Indonesia, the batik; Korea, the hanbok; India, the chaniya choli; Japan, the yukata; and Vietnam, the áo dài. UDVSA’s well designed merchandise was also a part of the fashion show.
In Philadelphia’s chinatown, a group called The Philly Suns performs a lion dance for the community every year during the Lunar New Year. They performed at UDVSA’s show bringing lots of good luck to the students, families, and faculty attending.
After the amazing lion dance performance, the Gather for Tet celebration invited guests to play the betting game or in Vietnamese, “Bầu Cua Tôm Cá.” Everyone was given a red envelope, “Lí Xí,” with a number. The number led to a table where e-board members facilitated the traditional game. Smiles and cheering was all around.
More performances by other UD organizations were presented to the guests, including dancing from IsoDynamic and KoDAC, and Korean singing by Hannah Burrows. The crowd cheered lowered as each performance went on.
UDVSA hosted a variety of intricate performances for the remainder of the night. The VSA trio of Daisy Pham, Linh Nguyen, and Satvika Kadiyala performed two times, which included a modern straw hat dance and modern dance to a Vietnamese pop song. A general body member, My An Dao, performed a love song in Vietnamese, showing true talent. After My An’s performance, UDVSA performed two more traditional dances which included straw hats that rice farmers use on a day to day basis as well as an elegant fan dance.
The event overall was a great way to introduce the University of Delaware to Vietnamese Lunar New Year as well as share different cultures amongst the community. Thank you to UDVSA’s e-board and hope to see UDVSA throw another celebration in the year of 2023!
Follow AAPC’s Instagram!
