A Three-Day Celebration in Honor of the Year of the Dragon
The Year of the Dragon will be celebrated with the 19th annual San Diego Tet in Mira Mesa from Friday, February 16 to Sunday, February 18 — attracting more than 30,000 attendees as the largest Lunar New Year celebration in San Diego County. Festival hours are 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.
The Year of the Dragon is typically considered an auspicious year, but for Vietnamese people, it’s even more special. The Vietnamese people are the product of the marriage of Loc Long Quân (The Dragon Lord of Lac) and Âu Co,a mountain snow goddess. Vietnamese often considered themselves to be descendants of dragons and gods (con rong tiên), according to Vietnamese myths.
“It’s important that we connect our youth to their culture,” said Dennis Duong, president of the Vietnamese American Youth Alliance, which organizes the festival. “This is, at the core, what the festival is about — connecting with our roots and preserving the culture.”
The three-day festival features lion dances, a Cultural Village, the Miss Vietnam Pageant, and Vietnamese food, music and vendors.
Following the Heavenly Stems (Thiên Can) counting system, this year’s stem is Giáp in combination with Green, Yang, Wood, and East, which means this year is the Eastern Green Wood Dragon.
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