Vivi Nguyen, left, goes through the food line with Tammy Hong as members of the Vietnamese community gather Sunday for a Tet celebration at the American Legion Post 95 in East Ridge.Along with welcoming the new year, the Vietnamese holiday of Tet is when families and friends get together – something they may not get to do very often.
“Vietnamese are very hard-working people, so they don’t get a lot of chances to get together,” said Tina Nguyen.
But many Vietnamese made the time Sunday for the annual celebration at American Legion Post 95 on Ringgold Road. The official beginning of the year is today.
“This is the most important holiday for us,” said Nguyen, 26, who moved to Chattanooga from Vietnam in 1994.
This year more than 400 people attended the feast, which includes dozens of traditional dishes, music, games and beauty pageants because it’s the Year of the Dragon.