Covid concerns prompt suspension of all spring festivals

For traditional festivities, the ministry has only allowed the organization of ceremonial parts, banning entertainment activities that attract crowds.

Movie screenings and other cultural and art performances must ensure safety measures for participants and audiences.

The country has around 8,000 festivals in the first two months of the Lunar New Year, mostly in the northern provinces.

The nine-day Tet holiday this year begins Saturday and the Year of the Tiger will start Tuesday.

Last week, authorities in Hanoi canceled the Huong (Perfume) Pagoda festival, one of the country’s longest spring celebrations.

Earlier, both Hanoi and HCMC, the country’s biggest metropolises, suspended firework shows usually held on Lunar New Year’s Eve.