Tet fireworks return to Hanoi after Covid cancelations

At a meeting with people of Hoan Kiem District Monday, Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, chairman of the Hanoi People’s Council, said a plan had been approved to launch fireworks shows at 31 locations throughout the capital.

In the years before Covid-19, Hanoi launched Tet fireworks in all of the city’s 30 districts and towns.

Hoan Kiem District has traditionally been home to the biggest and loudest window-rattling, wall-shaking shows at Hoan Kiem Lake in the Old Quarter, the capital city’s historic center. Each show would typically last 15 minutes.

In 2020, as part of coronavirus prevention measures, Hanoi only allowed fireworks at Thong Nhat Park, and the event was televised instead of being open to the public. There was no Tet firework show in 2021.

In Da Nang, the municipal People's Committee said this Tet would see fireworks displays in three locations around the city: on the Nguyen Van Troi pedestrian bridge, and in front of the Lien Chieu District and the Hoa Vang District administrative centers.

The Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet, is the biggest holiday in Vietnam and an important occasion for family reunions. It thus often comes with a surge in travel by migrant workers heading back to their hometown.

This year, there will be a seven-day Tet break from January 20 to January 26, 2023, allowing people to leave work two days before the Year of the Cat begins on January 22.