Lunar New Year “Tet” Festival

I suppose we had bad timing. Got here with three hours to go in the festival and 75 percent of the vendors had already torn down for the day. On stage there was some atrocious group of girls singing in what I can only describe as a house smoke detector that won’t turn off until you pull the battery. I’m being nice when I say it was highly unpleasant, and it made ordering from the food stands in the vicinity almost impossible.
And that’s unfortunate, because we really wanted to get at that food! To us, the highlight of this festival was the massive assortment of Asian food available — mostly Korean and Vietnamese. I just don’t come across this particular type of food in my every day in the San Dawg. We ended up settling for fried potato kabobs because it was the farthest booth from the stage and she could actually hear us ordering.
Realizing we arrived late and it was raining, we didn’t see the best of this festival. And, $ 5 isn’t enough of a ticket price to get upset over. We’ll try again next time and see how she goes.

«Will you promise me the moon and the stars?»
I had explored different regions of Vietnam years ago — slept on a junk boat on the serene, majestic waters of Halong Bay, trekked the French-​colonial streets of Hanoi, taken back in time on a boat trip through the fascinating Mekong Delta, and braved the busy, Vespa-​packed streets of Saigon. I fell in love with the beauty of its diverse landscapes and the charm and kind-​hearted spirit of its people. My experience put Vietnam on one of my Top Five places I’ve ever traveled.
Consequently, I was ecstatic to hear about the Lunar New Year Festival at Qualcomm Stadium this year and wanted to show my support. Proceeds from this event goes towards continued branding of San Diego’s Little Saigon and helps promote the heritage and support of our city’s Vietnamese community.
I arrived early on the first night of the festival (Friday), which may have been premature on my part. It seems half of the vendor booths were still empty or not fully set up and the Asian Cultural Village was without their descriptive captions. I DID spend a few minutes chatting with Muutian, who had built the impressive, finely-​detailed replica of the Saigon Notre-​Dame Basilica in Ho Chi Minh City by hand. The scaled-​down replica was made in the USA, fabricated with special products purchased from Michael’s and Home Depot. The work was so extensive, it took Muutian approximately six months to complete and had forced him into early
retirement just to complete such a massive project, he joked. There was no label describing it, nor any literature handed out. I had resorted to searching my iPhone to determine its name and its importance. It was established by French colonists and made headlines in October 2005, when the Virgin Mary statue that stood in front of the cathedral had reportedly shed tears.
I made my way towards the food, which defeated the purpose of my being here. Admittedly, I settled for a Pork and Chicken Plate with Red Rice from Chesa Kusina (Guamanian), a Shrimp Tempura and Fried Squid Leg Combo from Okonomiyaki (Japanese), an Organic Limade drink from The Hand-​Crafted Juicery, and a Coconut Waffle from Waffle Land (of Chinese origin?), but only because most of the Vietnamese food stands didn’t provide English-​translated descriptions of their food.
Taking my eats to the stage area, my attention became focused on the procession of the red and yellow Lion Dancers. Accompanied by clashing cymbals and dramatic drum beats, the lions continued their dancing, which was believed to ward off evil spirits and sweep away bad fortune from the previous year. Children looked onward in awe and parents fed money into the heads of the lions, as a show of respect and hope for good luck in the new year.
On my way out, I was in search of vendors selling red envelopes, so that I could fill them with money and pass them out to my non-​nuclear children. I found only two vendors selling trinkets and other Asian merchandise, but not the traditional red envelopes I was looking for.
I left the festival unsatiated. For me, it did not exude a celebration of the ‘most important holiday and festivity in Asia’ nor did it teach me anymore about Vietnamese culture and its traditions, the Year of the Monkey, or the Lunar New Year «Tet» Festival itself. I expected more of a turnout and much more in general, especially after a few of my Vietnamese friends recounted their experience at past Lunar New Year festivals in Orange County, which I was told were very festive, crowded, and colorful with its abundance of flowers.
I returned on Sunday to see what I may have missed, only to be faced with even less fanfare than Friday. Admission was free due to the heavy winds and rain. A majority of the vendors had already broken down their booths by noon, so there wasn’t really much left to see.
The festival was unable to fulfill their promise of the moon and the stars for me this year, but possibly because the moon and stars weren’t aligned. Still, I chose to award no lower than 3.5 stars because I feel it is important for San Diegans to support the social, cultural, and economic revitalization of their Little Saigon district. The inclement weather may be the root cause of the festival’s lackluster this year, which was to no fault of their own. It’s my understanding that this festival has only been in existence at Qualcomm stadium since 2014, leaving them a lot of room for growth. Even the festival’s website could use a little more meat and flavor, so to speak. I am hoping the organization uses this review as constructive criticism to better prepare for 2017. I DO look forward to coming back, when it will be the Year of the Rooster, to give the Lunar New Year Festival at Qualcomm another chance. I am confident that, by then, they will crow in delight and display their feathers proudly, as they are able to fulfill their promise to us San Diegans in 2017.

You’ll definitely get a mix of everything here. Vietnamese Asian market and booths on one end and a carnival in the other.
There was a lot of yummy food for cheap. Many performances although at times it seemed all over the place. But I think there was a charm to that. Very grass roots.
Go here with no expectations except to try something new. Too bad the weather was bad Sunday.

Hang out with Asian people, check out some booths, and eat yummy delicacies.
All in all, I had fun. Some of the music was a little off, but the Beatles cover band was pretty good.

This is by the little Saigon foundation San Diego. I totally get behind their cause. By sharing culture and a really fun activity celebrating and ringing in the lunar new Year aka Tet Festival, they hope to earn enough money to elevate the little Saigon area of San Diego which is on El Cajon Boulevard.
Considered this the mom and pops shop of vegetables in San Diego. It is run by volunteers who care about Sam Diego and who care about sharing culture.
There’s a lot of heart in this festival. When you enter you will see a cultural village. We’re volunteers build these set an seems of get mom every year. I am so impressed with the cathedral at the front entrance that took someone 1 year to create; it’s a masterpiece.
Come for $ 5 and enjoy lots of food lots of vendors lots of games lots of beautiful costumes and some Carnival rides as well without the crazy long lines that you would find at other fairs.
This is certainly worth it to support a good cause and enjoy something that you might not experienced otherwise stay for a while and watch some of their amazing free entertainment on 2 stages.
And not to mention Unilocal is a sponsor this year as the official check in sponsor, so come on down and check in. You’ll be supporting and representing Unilocal!!!

This event promises big crowds, nonstop live entertainment (including the Miss Asia San Diego Pageant), carnival rides, games, shopping and of course, tons of food!
For a great photo opportunity stop by the Cultural Village, a unique attraction constructed by local artists that showcases replicas of famous Vietnamese landmarks. Volunteers wearing traditional Vietnamese costumes will also pose for a fun photo with you if you ask them.
Unlike most stadium events, parking is free and admission tickets are only $ 5 for adults and $ 4 for kids. Usually there is a food, rides and admission ticket deal on Groupon if you want to save money and order ahead of time.
Best of all, the proceeds from this event go right back into the community. The Little Saigon San Diego Foundation works out of City Heights to revitalize the Little Saigon District and improve the quality of life for the community. Nothing feels better than having fun, taking in some culture and helping to improve our city!