A giant screen at the main stage featured popular Tet items, including firecrackers, green sticky rice cakes (Banh Chung), red parallel sentences, and “neu” tree - a bamboo pole erected at the front entrance to the home. The event also displayed large-sized photos of the Constellation of Literature Pavilion, the Temple of Literature, The Huc bridge, and Ben Thanh market.

Hoang Van Than, who arrived in Prague early from Tachov city bordering Germany, told VOV: “I drove my car 170km to attend this gathering. No matter how far we are, I and other Vietnamese people here always come together to celebrate Tet, a time to remember our homeland and our root”.

Most of participants to the Gala night are young Vietnam people of the second and third generations. Tran Phuong Linh, one of them, said: “I’m very moved to attend this Tet gathering. Being a young Vietnamese, I’m aware of our responsibility to preserve Vietnam’s unique Tet traditions and pass them down to the next generations”.

Meanwhile, local authorities in Vietnam have held meetings with Vietnamese expatriates who returned home for Tet. Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh city’s People’s Committee Ho Ky Minh told 160 overseas Vietnamese on Friday that they are always given favorable conditions to visit and invest in Vietnam. A similar meeting, involving 200 participants, took place in Binh Duong province the same day.