CALENDAR
The Vietnamese lunar calendar is used to find auspicious days for weddings, moving and the start of new businesses. Make sure you follow grandmother’s advice. Check the following website if you need to know the lunar date. Festivals follow the lunar calendar.
www.informatik.uni-leipzig.de/~duc/amlich/
 
NATIONAL HOLIDAYS
Vietnam has the least number of national holidays in the region:
January 1 – Western New Year’s Day
January or February – Tet; Vietnamese New Year based on the lunar calendar. This is the most important Vietnamese festivity of the whole year. Although officially 3 days it includes a few weeks of preparation and an intense week of celebrations, not to mention the post holiday blues.
April – Hung King’s Day, based on the lunar calendar
April 30 – Liberation Day 
May 1 – Labour Day
May 19 – Ho Chi Minh’s birthday
September 2 – National Day
 
YEAR OF THE
 
Rat        1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008
Buffalo  1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009
Tiger     1938, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2010
Cat        1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011
Dragon 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012
Snake   1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013
Horse    1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014
Goat      1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015
Monkey 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016
Rooster 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017
Dog       1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018
Pig         1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019
 
The Rat
Rat people are charming, ambitious, aggressive and talkative – the perfect sales or marketing person. They are honest, sincere and generous but sometimes quick tempered and overly critical. Famous rats: Shakespeare, Mozart, Churchill, Washington and Truman Capote.
 
The Buffalo
Hard-working and persistent, buffalo people believe in themselves. A buffalo has high moral standards, bright and patient but chauvinistic and demanding. Famous buffalos: Napoleon, Van Gogh, Walt Disney, Clark Gable, and Richard Nixon.
 
The Tiger
A born leader, they are noble and fearless, aggressive, courageous, sensitive, emotional, considerate, and capable of great love. However, tigers can be stubborn and short-tempered. Famous tigers: Marco Polo, Mary Queen of Scots, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Marilyn Monroe.
 
The Cat
The cat is usually kind and sweet, talented, affectionate and always pleasant. Famous cats: Rudolph Nureyev, Confucius, Orson Wells, Einstein.
 
The Dragon
Dragons are feisty, lucky, powerful, passionate, soft-spoken, somewhat stubborn, full of vitality and enthusiasm although foolhardy and outspoken. Famous dragons: Joan Of Arc, Pearl Buck, Freud.
 
The Snake
Snake people are born charming, popular, wise, physically beautiful but often vain and stingy. Famous snakes: Darwin, Edgar Allen Poe, Abraham Lincoln.
 
The Horse
The horse is an individual who uses their wits and labor to fulfill their desires. They are energetic and ambitious and adept with money but need to guard against being egotistical. Famous horses: Rembrandt, Chopin, Davy Crockett, Teddy Roosevelt.
 
The Goat
Sheep people are elegant, charming, artistic, gifted, and fond of nature. Except for their tendancy to complain they are the best company. Famous sheep: Michelangelo, Rudolph Valentino, Mark Twain, Orville Wright.
 
The Monkey
These are fun loving people who are always cheerful, energetic, clever and detail oriented although a little arrogant at times. Famous monkeys: Julius Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci, Harry S. Truman, Elizabeth Taylor.
 
The Rooster
Roosters are conservatives at heart, hard workers and curious. They may appear to be boastful, extravagant and selfish. Famous roosters: Rudyard Kipling, Caruso, Groucho Marx, Peter Ustinov.
 
The Dog
The dog person is loyal, sincere, honest, serious and faithful. Although they complain, criticize and worry they will never let you down. Famous dogs: Socrates, George Gershwin, Benjamin Franklin, Herbert Hoover, and David Niven.
 
The Pig
Pigs are models of sincerity, purity, tolerance, honor. They are chivalrous and tolerant but often naïve, with a desire for luxury and material goods. Famous pigs: Albert Schweitzer, Ernest Hemingway.
 
RESOURCES
 
Tet – The Vietnamese Lunar New Year
Huu Ngoc and Cohen, Barbara
The Gioi Publishers, 1997
 
Traditional Festivals in Vietnam
Do Phuong Quynh