The University of South Alabama’s Vietnamese Student Association (USA VSA) hosted its annual Lunar New Year (Tết) Festival on Feb. 9 in the Student Center Ballroom. The event was VSA’s second of the spring semester, but it is its biggest event of the year. The festival made a grand return after VSA opted not to host it last year.

The Tết festival, as it is known in Vietnam, was held a day before the actual holiday was observed this year. Tết is the most significant holiday in Vietnam, and it coincides with similar Lunar New Year celebrations held in a variety of other countries, including China and South Korea.

VSA’s Tết festival was made possible through funding from the Student Government Association as well as local businesses who sponsored the event.

The night was kicked off by VSA President Sebastian Bustamante. Bustamante is a junior majoring in Computer Science. 

“Lunar New Year is a really important tradition that my culture, the Vietnamese culture, celebrates,” said Bustamante. “My family cares a lot about this tradition. I’m glad I could bring that to the school.”

Other guest speakers included graduate student Hayley Doan and faculty advisor Dr. Thuy Phung, both of whom implored attendees to never lose sight of their culture. Doan played a vital part in rebuilding VSA as its president from 2019 to 2022. Dr. Phung serves as an associate professor of pathology in the College of Medicine.

The night was filled with entertainment, beginning with fan dancing performed by members of VSA. This was followed by a performance by White Tiger Lion Dance, a group from Biloxi, Mississippi. Members of the executive board and other volunteer participants dazzled crowds during the Ao Dai Fashion Show. During an intermission, attendees played Bau Cua and Thirteen, popular games from Vietnam. Finally, attendees got the opportunity to donate a dollar to pie members of the executive board.

Attendees were treated to a variety of Asian foods, namely fried rice, stir fried noodles, spring rolls, bánh mì sandwiches, crab rangoons, eggrolls, shrimp chips and chè thái. Drinks included chrysanthemum tea and dragonfruit tea.

However, the food did not last long thanks to the crowd of over 100 guests. Members of the Mobile community, event sponsors, and students from other universities came to celebrate Lunar New Year with USA VSA.

“I thought it was really cool, a lot of cool things to see,” said Matthew Nguyen, a student at Mississippi State University. “Dragon dancing, Ao Dai Fashion Show, I just loved it all.”