History

Greater Sacramento has hosted civic Tết (Lunar New Year) and Tết Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn Festival): a civic Hội Chợ Tết that later moved to Elk Grove Park, a civic moon and family fair, and separate calendars at Kim Quang Buddhist Temple and Vietnamese Martyrs Parish.

Hội Chợ Tết is a public Tết market fair — carnival rides, a stage, and in some years a street parade — that began on the Stockton Blvd–Florin corridor. Hosts have included the Vietnamese American Community of Sacramento (VACOS), the Greater Sacramento Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce (GSVACC, later the Norcal Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, NVCC), and Community Partners Advocate of Little Saigon Sacramento (cPALSs). The civic weekend later moved to Elk Grove Park. Elk Grove Lunar New Year (EGLNY) is the acronym used for that park weekend from 2027.

Two faith campuses keep their own calendars. Kim Quang Buddhist Temple, on Alta Arden, stages Gia Đình Phật Tử (GĐPT) văn nghệ — a youth variety show — around Tết, with lễ (ceremony) and lân (lion dance). Vietnamese Martyrs Parish, on Florin Road, has held Xuân (spring / Tết) celebrations: a weekend fair in the early 2010s, then a ticketed Saturday evening from 2024.

A second civic season, Tết Trung Thu, began in 2019 as a moon and family fair. A reboot is in the works, with the name Great Lantern Festival.