Lunar New Year: San Jose
Bridging generations
Nearly half a century after the first Vietnamese refugees resettled in San Jose, the Vietnamese American Roundtable (VAR), in partnership with the United Vietnamese Student Associations of Northern California (NorCal UVSA) and The Museum of the Boat People & the Republic of Vietnam (Viet Museum), hosted the first youth-led, community-driven LNY Festival at History Park in East San Jose in 2024.
Since 2025, LNY:SJ has moved to Grand Century Mall and includes it's very own Vietnamese Lunar New Year parade that goes through the heart of Vietnam Town. Having attracted 10x larger crowds every year, the event has gained national recognition as one of the largest Tết festivals in the United States.
Preserving cultural heritage
Since Asian American refugees and immigrants began to adapt, settle, and form communities in the United States following years of turmoil, they have brought the shared cultural practice of celebrating the Lunar New Year. Community members, displaced from their original homes in an adopted homeland, organized gatherings between families and friends in proximity to retain, remember, and recreate the rich and vibrant atmosphere of the traditional holiday season in their neighborhoods.
In the City of San José, home to one of the largest Asian American populations in the United States, community organizations and organizers have held a longstanding tradition to host festivals that bring together members of the community for celebrations centered around families reuniting, connecting across generations, and a creating shared sense of cultural identity – locally and across the diaspora.
~ thanks to our staffs and more ❤
