Hanoi says fireworks only for Tet, Lunar New Year

By Nguyen Quy   December 29, 2018 | 05:21 am PT
Hanoi says fireworks only for Tet, Lunar New Year
Fireworks shows are seen from Hoang Cau Street in Hanoi during the Lunar New Year's Eve 2018. Photo by Shutterstocks/Annguyen
Hanoi authorities have decided to spare firework displays for New Year’s Eve, reserving them for Tet.

With the Gregorian New Year just a month away from the week-long Tet Lunar New Year holiday, which starts February 2, the Hanoi administration has decided that the fireworks display will be reserved for the latter, which is Vietnam’s biggest and most important holiday.

The move is part of the city’s efforts to practice thrift, officials said.

Instead, Hanoians and foreign tourists will celebrate the New Year’s Eve 2019, which falls next Monday, with a countdown party at the Hang Day National Stadium instead.

For the Lunar New Year’s Eve, which falls on February 4, fireworks would return to multiple locations across the capital.

In previous years' celebrations, Hanoi had 30 fireworks shows across the city, with five big ones at Hoan Kiem Lake, Thong Nhat Park, Lac Long Quan Flower Garden, Van Quan Lake and My Dinh National Stadium.

The capital's remaining 25 districts and towns each organized smaller firework shows.

The city intends to use private funding for the fireworks shows, officials said.

Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern metropolis, will have two sets of fireworks shows, one on New Year’s Eve, and another for Lunar New Year’s Eve.

The 15-minute fireworks will be set off at the Thu Thiem Tunnel that links Districts 1 and 2, and Dam Sen Park in District 11 on the midnight of January 1.

Between 8 p.m. on December 31 till the wee hours of January 1, traffic will not be allowed on many streets, including the section of Nguyen Tat Thanh from Hoang Dieu to Khanh Hoi Bridge and the section of Ton Duc Thang from Me Linh Square to Khanh Hoi Bridge.

One part of Dong Khoi Street between Ngo Duc Ke and Ton Duc Thang, the section of Hai Trieu from Ho Tung Mau to Nguyen Hue Boulevard, and the section of Ham Nghi from Ho Tung Mau to Ton Duc Thang will also be closed to traffic to make way for countdown festival to ring in the New Year 2019 and fireworks shows.

Da Nang, famous for its annual international fireworks competition, is expected to welcome the New Year with a 15-minute firework display at the end of a party that begins 9 p.m. on December 31 on Nguyen Van Troi Bridge. It will have three firework displays for Tet.

The upcoming Year of the Pig will begin on February 5. The government has approved a nine-day break for the holiday between February 2 and 10.

 
 
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