Various traditional customs of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year will be featured on January 22 at So Village’s communal house on the western outskirts of Hanoi.

The event is an annual gathering hosted by the Dinh Lang Viet (Vietnamese Communal House) Group, a Hanoi-based community of people keen on preserving ancient values of communal houses.

The event will include a ceremony to erect cay neu, a tall bamboo tree in the communal house’s yard. The bamboo pole is stripped of its leaves except for a tuft on top so that it can be wrapped or decorated with red paper for good luck. Bows, arrows, bells and gongs are hung on the treetop with the hope that all the bad luck of the past year is chased away and everyone has a happy New Year.

A traditional worship ceremony will be held, along with events featuring the art of drawing calligraphy and folk singing.

Both men and women participating in the gathering are encouraged to wear the traditional long dress.

The event is set to take place in Cong Hoa commune, Quoc Oai district, some 20km to the west of Hanoi’s centre, between 8am and 5.30pm on January 22.

VNA