The winter vacations in France will start on February 10 (on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar) for two weeks. Overseas Vietnamese are eager to return to the country for the Lunar New Year celebration.
The "Journée de Banh Chung (square glutinous rice cake) 2024" (Day of Banh Chung 2024) event will be held at the Vietnam Cultural Center in France on January 28 by the Vietnamese Student Association in Toulouse (the Association of Vietnamese Students of Toulouse – AEVTL). Young overseas Vietnamese will have a chance to participate in cooking Banh Chung, music performances, and folk games.
One of the much-awaited events is a Tet fair which is scheduled to be held at Thanh Binh Jeune Supermarket in Paris on January 27-28. It has become a tradition, Thanh Binh Jeune Supermarket also revives the Vietnamese Tet atmosphere with miniatures of street food carts, and music performances, and designs miniature scenes for visitors to take check-in photos.
In addition, the Association of Vietnamese People in France (UGVF) will organize a Tet Festival at Pavillon Baltard in the outskirts of Paris on February 3. It is regarded as a Tet market with the largest scale covering an area of around 3,000 square meters featuring a series of activities, such as a food fair, music shows, folk games, and others.
Vu Tra Mi, owner of Chez Tra Mi restaurant in Paris, and members of the Tam Duyen group said that they have prepared many delicious dishes, likely grilled chicken, grilled meat, beef stew in red wine sauce, braised meat, cha gio (Vietnamese spring rolls), beef Stir Fry with noodles, and handicraft products to present to customers at the market.
As Tet approaches, restaurants are usually busy with a plethora of orders of Banh Chung, gio lua (Vietnamese pork sausage), braised meat, onion pickles, and other food for Tet. Although they are very busy, everyone in the group is very interested in wearing Ao ba ba (ba ba blouse) and Ao Dai (Vietnamese traditional dress) when cooking and serving clients, Tra My said.
In addition, local supermarkets such as Leclerc, Carrefour, and Lidl have also sold food for Tet holidays to attract Vietnamese customers during the Lunar New Year.
The Tet Festival at Pavillon Baltard only lasts one day. Therefore it attracts a large number of people. This year’s event will see food stalls introducing larger amounts of dishes and services to draw visitors.
