By Rochelle Dimalanta
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Clashing cymbals, pounding drums, cracking firecrackers, and live music welcomed hundreds to Seattle Center for the 29th Annual Tết Festival this past weekend.
On the 2025 lunar calendar, Tết, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, landed on Jan. 29.
This year is the Year of the Snake, and it is also the 50th anniversary since the end of the Vietnam War—the Fall of Saigon—which occurred in 1975.

Hundreds of people gather outside on the sunny afternoon of Sunday, Jan. 26 for the 29th Annual Tết Festival. Intently lining the parapet up top on the roof of the Fisher Pavilion and on the main level outside on the north end of the Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center – couples and families watch as the Mak Fai Lion Dance celebrates the tradition of Tết, Vietnamese Lunar New Year. (Rochelle Dimalanta / University of Washington News Lab Student Journalist)
At 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 26, the Mak Fai Lion Dance commences with hundreds of people surrounding the performance on the north side of the Fisher Pavilion building at Seattle Center on 305 Harrison St. The family-friendly event called, Tết in Seattle, celebrates Vietnamese Lunar New Year, bringing lively performances and sharing traditions with the Seattle city community. (Rochelle Dimalanta / University of Washington News Lab Student Journalist)
After the traditional lion dance, attendees of the free-admission public event were able to walk outdoors and into the Seattle Center Armory and Fisher Pavilion buildings to find food and merchandise vendors, along with community and sponsor booths.
In celebration of Vietnamese Lunar New Year, the 29th Annual Tết Festival at Seattle Center, provides numerous booths to visit, including food and merchandise vendors, along with community and sponsor booths. The event staff at information booths also have welcome booklets that feature a map of the venue and the programming schedule of the festivities. (Rochelle Dimalanta / University of Washington News Lab Student Journalist)
A welcome booklet informed attendees that Tết is short for Tết Nguyên Đán, which means “Feast of the First Morning of the First Day,” and marks the New Year on the lunar calendar.
Michelle Tran, the executive director of Tết in Seattle (TIS) who oversees the operations of the festival, said the festival holds personal significance.
“I personally grew up coming to Tết in Seattle a lot, growing up as a kid, and I participated with our temples or just participated as a volunteer. My main goal in pursuing this role is to make sure the festival continues to last for future generations to enjoy,” said Tran, adding that the festivities are in celebration of the arrival of spring. “It’s a very important celebration in Vietnamese culture.”
The TIS organization was founded in 1996 and held its first festival in 1997, Tran said. She said it is a way to support small business vendors and community organizations, as well as a way to bring people together to celebrate Vietnamese heritage.
The celebration that weekend featured Mak Fai Lion Dance performers outside, north of the Fisher Pavilion.
Outside on the north side of the Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center, hundreds of people gather around to watch the Mak Fai Lion Dance on Sunday, Jan. 26 at the 29th Annual Tết Festival. In celebration of Vietnamese Lunar New Year, families watch as the Mak Fai Lion Dance performers enthusiastically unleash celebratory new year’s banners.
(Rochelle Dimalanta / University of Washington News Lab Student Journalist)
Mak Fai Lion Dance performers make their way from outside, excitedly parading into and throughout the Fisher Pavilion building around the vendor booths area, and conclude in their performance by gathering on the main stage on Sunday, Jan. 26 for the 29th Annual Tết Festival. Couples and families smile at the lively celebration of Vietnamese Lunar New Year. (Rochelle Dimalanta / University of Washington News Lab Student Journalist)
“My favorite thing today and every year is the lion dance,” Tran remarked. “It really brings everyone together and it’s a core part of Vietnamese culture, so just having firecrackers and live music or drumming, just brings the excitement together.”
Popular “Paris by Night” headline singer, Lam Anh, also sang on the main stage indoors at the Fisher Pavilion.
Vietnamese headline singer, Lam Anh, greets “Happy New Year” to everyone and enthusiastically walks into the aisles of the audience from the main stage of the Fisher Pavilion on Sunday, Jan. 26. Attendees of Tết in Seattle, record video and take pictures as Anh exuberantly sings songs in Vietnamese. (Rochelle Dimalanta / University of Washington News Lab Student Journalist)
In the 2025 celebration of Tết in Seattle for Vietnamese Lunar New Year, headline singer Lam Anh performed on the main stage in Fisher Pavilion on Sunday, Jan. 26. The crowd delightedly cheered on the duet of Lam Anh and Son Vo, a father attending the festival who Anh spontaneously invited from the back of the audience to sing with her on stage. Vo’s daughter, Leah, stood with him on stage as he sang. (Rochelle Dimalanta / University of Washington News Lab Student Journalist)
“Paris by Night” is a variety show similar to the Oscars or the Grammys, Tran said.
“A lot of our parents and grandparents grew up watching [the show],” said Tran. “[It’s] a core memory [for] us.”
Son Vo, an attendee standing in the back of the audience, was spontaneously invited by Anh to sing a song in Vietnamese with her on stage.
With his daughter, Leah, by his side, Vo sang along to the lyrics on his phone to a Vietnamese song, titled “Vị Ngọt Đôi Môi” by Quang Dũng. The audience in front of the main stage in Fisher Pavilion cheered in delight when Anh and Vo sang the song as a duet.
“I love singing. My whole family loves to sing,” said Vo. “[We] keep the tradition going.”
Vo said he brings his kids every year to TIS to celebrate Lunar New Year.
A family friendly and multigenerational event, TIS attendees were able to enjoy the weekend being in community with one another where live music played.
Cindy Pham, a crochet fiber artist of Pallas Crochet, showcased her handmade work at TIS as a craft vendor. She was selling a variety of crochet creations, from stuffed animals, to keychains, to purses and hats.
“I think Tết in Seattle is a wonderful festival to attend and experience even if you are not Vietnamese, because it’s a great showcase of Vietnamese culture and gives people a chance to experience our traditions,” Pham said. “I love vending at Tết, because it makes me feel like I belong to the local community and allows me to showcase my art to them and also lets me connect with others.”
“Vietnamese traditions remind me of being around my family,” said Pham.
While TIS is still calculating this year’s attendance records, Tran said that she believes this year’s festival saw more attendees than last year and twice as many food vendors as last year.
Next year’s Tết festival, which celebrates the Year of the Horse, will also celebrate the festival’s 30th anniversary. Tran said that they are going to try to make it a big one.
“We are going to anticipate … new activities,” Tran said. “Hopefully [there will be] more well-known headline singers, and [we’ll] maintain the good things that happened during this festival, too.”
Reporter Rochelle Dimalanta is a News Lab student journalist from the University of Washington. She can be reached at rdima12@uw.edu.
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