Following are traditional Tet holiday customs of the Hre ethnic minority in Vietnam. Each Vietnamese ethnic group has its own festivals, customs, beliefs and cultural practice. The Tet festival of the Hre people lasts about half a month, during which time many exciting cultural and community activities take place.
The Tet festival of the Hre ethnic group, who live in Quang Ngai province, lasts for several months. Each family must make large quantities of Tet (cylindrical glutinous rice) cake, can wine and slaughter a buffalo to make a feast for guests, relatives and neighbors.
To celebrate Tet, all the villagers gather at the house of the village chief to enjoy the banquet and offer him their best wishes. Afterwards, they visit each other’s houses in the hamlet. During Tet, the locals enjoy good food and drink can wine while dancing and singing.
The Hre have their own unique way of counting their age. Each year, when local people make Tet cake or serve guests during Tet, they wrap a plain cake without stuffing and have it as their individual portion. After eating this cake, they keep one leaf of the cake. They keep the leaves year after year, making them into a string that they hang from the main door of the house. The number of the leaves is equal to their age.
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