Vietnamese across London and beyond gathered at the heart of the city’s southeast to usher in the start of the new lunisolar year with a show of vibrant festivities.
The Tết Nguyên Đán – that is, ‘feast of the first day’ – celebrations, held in the Deptford Lounge community centre, saw festival goers revel in a programme of Vietnamese arts, crafts and street food, provided by majority Vietnamese-owned local businesses.
The event was hosted by Vietnam Family Partnership (VFP), a grass-roots charity and advocacy group to the UK’s Vietnamese diaspora, born out of its founder and CEO Quynh Nguyen’s initial efforts to set up a Vietnamese women’s charity.
As VFP trustee Huyen Le stressed to the South East Londoner, the organisation’s civic mission informed its approach to hosting a large-scale community event like its Tết festival.
Le said: “As a Vietnamese Londoner, I can say I’m proud to belong to a strong and tight-knit community. But, you know, sometimes people see me and think I’m Chinese!
“It’s often overlooked that the lunar new year has significance to many different peoples besides just the Chinese. VFP’s aim is to celebrate today in the spirit of inclusivity.”
2026 marks the sixth year VFP, or Gia Đình Việt in Vietnamese, has held its Tết festival.
The day’s highlights included a pottery workshop, a bánh chưng (a traditional Vietnamese rice dish) wrapping competition, and the award of the raffle’s top prize: a round-trip ticket to Vietnam – the theatrics of which were only matched by the festival’s centrepiece lion dance.
Feature image taken by Ben Kara
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