AAPI BRG_LNY Celebration

A special AAPI BRG Meeting & Celebration

HAPPY

Lunar New Year!

Lunar New Year is one of the most widely celebrated cultural holidays in the world, observed by many Asian communities including Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and others across the AAPI diaspora.

Although each culture has its own traditions, foods, and customs, the shared themes are renewal, family connection, gratitude, and hope for the year ahead.

For our AAPI BRG Lunar New Year program, we invited Chef Haley Nguyen to share how Vietnamese families celebrate Tết through meaningful traditions and food. This booklet provides cultural background and context to accompany the video you’ll see in our presentation. Our hope is that it offers a deeper understanding of Lunar New Year traditions across AAPI cultures and helps everyone feel more connected to the diversity we celebrate at Swinerton.

MEET

Chef Haley Nguyen

Chef Haley Nguyen is a Vietnamese American culinary educator, chef, and community advocate based in Southern California. She began cooking at a young age in Vietnam, learning traditional recipes and techniques from her mother and grandmother. After immigrating to the United States with her family in 1975, food became an important way to preserve cultural identity and family connection in a new country.

Over the past three decades, Haley has taught Asian cuisine and culinary arts to thousands of students, developed curriculum focused on Southeast Asian cooking, and led culinary tours to Vietnam and Little Saigon in Orange County, CA. She previously owned the acclaimed Vietnamese restaurant Xanh Bistro and has appeared in national media including Food Network, CNN, and King Authur Flour commercial. Today, she serves as Department Head of Culinary Arts at Long Beach City College and continues to share Vietnamese food traditions with communities across Southern California.

For our AAPI BRG Lunar New Year program, Haley shares how Vietnamese families celebrate Tết through stories, traditions, and the preparation of meaningful foods.

CLICK HERE

to watch the LNY program with Haley

WHAT IS Lunar New Year?

Lunar New Year marks the beginning of the new year based on the lunar calendar and typically falls between late January and mid-February. The celebration lasts about fifteen days and is considered the most important annual holiday in many Asian cultures.

Historically rooted in agricultural societies, Lunar New Year marked the transition into spring and a new planting cycle. Over centuries, it evolved into a cultural festival centered on family reunions, honoring ancestors, and welcoming prosperity and good fortune.

Common traditions across cultures include cleaning homes to remove bad luck from the past year, decorating with red to symbolize joy and fortune, preparing special foods, exchanging lucky money envelopes, and gathering for reunion meals. Although often associated with Chinese culture in the U.S., Lunar New Year is also celebrated in Vietnamese (Tết), Korean (Seollal), and other AAPI communities with distinct customs and foods.

How Lunar New Year Is Celebrated Across AAPI Cultures While traditions vary, Lunar New Year celebrations across AAPI cultures share a strong focus on family, respect for elders, and hopes for prosperity in the coming year.

In Chinese communities, the holiday—often called Spring Festival—includes reunion dinners, dumplings symbolizing wealth, lantern displays, and lion or dragon dances.

Families exchange red envelopes containing money as a blessing for children and younger relatives.

In Korean culture, Seollal is marked by ancestral memorial rites, traditional clothing called hanbok, and a special rice cake soup believed to bring good fortune and symbolize gaining a year of age.

In Vietnamese culture, the holiday is known as Tết and is considered the most important celebration of the year. Preparations begin weeks in advance and center on honoring ancestors, welcoming luck, and gathering with family to share traditional foods.

Across all these cultures, Lunar New Year celebrations reinforce connection across generations and community.

Fun Facts About Lunar New Year Lunar New Year celebrations date back more than two thousand years and are rooted in ancient agrarian societies marking the arrival of spring and a new agricultural cycle.

The holiday follows a lunar calendar, which is why the date changes each year but always falls between late January and mid-February.

The color red is widely used in decorations and clothing because it symbolizes joy, good fortune, and protection from bad luck.

Although often associated with China, Lunar New Year is celebrated by many Asian cultures worldwide and by millions of people across global diaspora communities, including large celebrations in cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York.

Traditional Lunar New Year Foods and Symbolism Across many Asian cultures, Lunar New Year foods carry symbolic meaning connected to prosperity, longevity, unity, and good fortune. These meanings often come from ingredients, shapes, or even pronunciation of the food’s name in the native language.

Fish is commonly served because its name in Chinese sounds like “surplus,” representing abundance. Dumplings resemble ancient gold ingots and symbolize wealth. Sweet rice cakes

represent growth and progress in the new year. Fruits such as oranges or kumquats symbolize prosperity because their golden color resembles wealth.

The tradition of serving symbolic foods reflects the belief that beginning the year with abundance and positive meaning invites good fortune for the months ahead.

Vietnamese Tết Traditions Tết Nguyên Đán, often shortened to Tết, means “the first morning of the first day” and marks the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. It represents renewal, gratitude, and the bond between family, ancestors, and community.

In Vietnamese homes, preparations begin well before the holiday.

Families clean and decorate their homes, prepare ancestor altars, and cook traditional foods to share with relatives and guests. The first days of Tết are spent visiting family members, honoring elders, and offering wishes for health, prosperity, and happiness. Children receive lucky money in red envelopes, symbolizing blessings for the new year.

Food plays a central role in Tết celebrations, not only as nourishment but as a symbol of abundance and togetherness.

Traditional dishes are prepared in large quantities so the family table is full throughout the holiday, reflecting hopes for prosperity in the coming year.

Bánh Chưng and Bánh Tét Among all Vietnamese New Year dishes, bánh chưng and bánh tét hold the deepest cultural meaning. These traditional rice cakes are made from sticky rice filled with mung beans and pork, wrapped in banana leaves, and slowly boiled for many hours. Families prepare them together during Tết as both a ritual and a celebration.

Bánh chưng is square in shape and traditionally associated with northern Vietnam, representing the earth. Bánh tét is cylindrical and more common in southern Vietnam, representing continuity and the cycles of life.

Together, they symbolize gratitude for the land, harvest, and ancestors.

A well-known Vietnamese legend explains their importance. According to tradition, a humble prince named Lang Liêu created these rice cakes using simple ingredients from the rice fields to honor the earth and the people. His understanding of the deep connection between food, land, and family moved the king to choose him as successor. Since then, Vietnamese families prepare and share these cakes during Tết as a reminder that humility, gratitude, and family are the true foundations of prosperity.

How Bánh Chưng and Bánh Tét Are Enjoyed During Tết, these rice cakes are typically sliced and served at room temperature as part of family meals or ancestor offerings. Many families also lightly pan-fry slices to create a crisp exterior while keeping the inside soft and fragrant.

They are often eaten with pickled vegetables, such as pickled mustard greens or carrots, which balance the richness of the rice and pork. Fish sauce or chili sauce may also be served alongside.

In modern Vietnamese American kitchens, families sometimes prepare the cakes in new ways, including air-frying slices, pairing them with eggs for breakfast, or serving them as appetizers. These adaptations reflect how diaspora communities continue traditions while blending them with contemporary life.

CLICK HERE

to learn different ways of enjoying rice cakes

CLICK HERE

to learn how to cook rice cakes in a waffle maker

ZODIAC CORNER

Year of the Fire Horse

The Chinese zodiac follows a twelve-year cycle in which each year is represented by an animal sign combined with one of five elemental energies. The year 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse.

The Horse sign is traditionally associated with energy, independence, confidence, and perseverance. People born under this sign are often described as expressive, adventurous, and driven. The Fire element adds qualities of passion, boldness, and creativity, making Fire Horse years associated with dynamic change and strong momentum.

According to zodiac traditions, the signs expected to experience particularly favorable energy in 2026 include Horse, Dog, Tiger, and Sheep. These signs are believed to align harmoniously with Horse energy, supporting growth and opportunity during the year.

GET CRAFTY

Lucky Money Tree

Kumquat trees are traditional Lunar New Year decorations symbolizing wealth and prosperity. In Cantonese, the word for kumquat sounds similar to the word for gold, which is why these trees are associated with fortune and success.

Create a simple pipe-cleaner version to celebrate Lunar New Year at home or at your desk.

MATERIALS • green pipe cleaners

• small cup or pot

• orange pipe cleaners

• glue or tape

DIRECTIONS 1. Wrap an orange pipe cleaner tightly around a pencil to create a spiral.

2. Slide it off and pinch the ends to form a small fruit.

3. Twist the fruit onto a green pipe cleaner branch.

4. Place branches into a cup or pot to form a tree.

5. Add red ribbon or paper decorations if desired.

CLICK HERE

to read the full step-by-step tutorial

CLICK HERE

to watch the full step-by-step tutorial

Thank You!

Lunar New Year is a celebration of renewal, family, and hope that connects generations across many AAPI cultures.

Traditions such as sharing symbolic foods, honoring ancestors, and gathering with loved ones reflect values that resonate across communities and remind us of the importance of connection and belonging.

While customs vary, the spirit of the holiday is shared. Across AAPI cultures, families welcome the new year with wishes for health, prosperity, and good fortune.

Special thanks to the JWA P404

Terminal Electrical Upgrades project

team for generously sponsoring the Lunar New Year snack boxes shared across Swinerton offices. Your support helped bring our teams together to enjoy and celebrate this meaningful holiday.

Wishing everyone a joyful and prosperous new year.

Chúc mừng năm mới • Xīnnián kuàilè • Gōng hèi fāt chòi • Saehae bok mani badeuseyo • Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu