Countywide : Tet Festivities Planned at 2 Community Colleges

As Golden West College in Huntington Beach tonight celebrates Tet with a program on Vietnamese culture, Rancho Santiago College’s Santa Ana campus will be planning its first such festival.

At a press conference Friday, Rancho Santiago College officials announced they will co-sponsor the festival later this month.

“This Tet festival is more than just a celebration of the [lunar] New Year,” said Edward Hernandez, Rancho Santiago Community College District’s executive vice chancellor. “It’s a new commitment to the Vietnamese community . . . something that will lead to an ongoing relationship for many years to come.”

Officials said the college began planning new Vietnamese-related courses to offer students last year. Two Vietnamese language courses were created and offered this semester. Next semester, Vietnamese culture and history classes will be available.

The festival also will be sponsored by the Union of Vietnamese Student Assns. of Southern California, which has sponsored Tet events in the county since 1982.

More than 50,000 people are expected to attend Rancho’s festival, and festival chairman Khanh Hoang said he hopes to raise at least $30,000. He said some of the proceeds will be donated to nonprofit Vietnamese language and tutoring programs throughout the county, college scholarships and refugee camps in Vietnam.

The festival will take place Feb. 17 and 18 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. both days on the Santa Ana campus, at 1530 W. 17th St.

Tonight’s Tet festival at Golden West College will be at 7 in the main theater, 15744 Golden West St., Huntington Beach. The event is open to the public, and tickets are $10.

Both celebrations will feature dragon dances, fashion shows and other entertainment.

The events are “good for people who don’t know a lot about the Vietnamese culture,” said Tiffany Tran of Golden West’s counseling center.