Tet New Year Gets New Twist as Goat Gives Way to the More Popular Ram

A Vietnamese organization in Orange County is breaking with tradition this Lunar New Year to give its Tet celebration more of a local flavor.

The Vietnamese Community Council of Southern California will celebrate its Tet festival as the Year of the Ram--instead of the traditional Year of the Goat--in the hopes of raising more interest in the county that is home to the Los Angeles Rams, organizers said Tuesday.

“We’re trying to adjust to our new society here in America, and a lot of things have changed,” said Chuyen Nguyen, secretary of the Westminster-based organization. “We just feel we could get the county to be more involved since (people) would connect the Year of the Ram with the Rams football team.”

“After all, the people here see the (horns) on the helmet all the time,” he noted.

Meanwhile, the Union of Vietnamese Student Assns. of Southern California will celebrate the Year of the Goat with a Tet festival in Huntington Beach, a spokeswoman said.

Officials of both groups said there are no rules or guidelines in choosing the moniker for the Lunar New Year, which falls on Friday. It just depends on who is doing the translation and his or her personal preference, they added.

“The animals are practically the same,” said Nguyen. “The ram roams in the wild woods, whereas the goat is tamer, more of a domesticated animal.”

Organizers of the Tet festival in Huntington Beach said they don’t begrudge the Westminster group its interpretation of the Lunar New Year’s symbol.

However, the “literal translation of the name of the year is ‘goat,’ ” said Francis Nguyen of the student organization.

The Vietnamese official name for this year’s Tet is Tet Tan Mui , which translates as “Year of the Goat.”

“There’s really no right or wrong in the decision to use either name,” Francis Nguyen said. “Our organization is just going with what we, as a culture, have been celebrating historically.”

While the names for the Lunar New Year may be different, the ideals of the Tet celebrations are the same, organizers with both groups explained. Tet is recognized in the Vietnamese culture as a holiday in which family togetherness and great respect for the family’s elder members are emphasized, they said.

Both festivals will include the traditional dragon dance as well as food booths, art shows and fireworks.

The Westminster festival, to be held on a vacant lot behind the 99 Market on Bolsa Avenue, will begin Friday and last through Sunday. The student-sponsored festivities, at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, will be held Saturday and Sunday.