Council Decides to Co-Sponsor Tet Parade
The city will co-sponsor the Tet Parade Feb. 8 and contribute as much as $10,000 for the Vietnamese New Year celebration, the City Council decided this week.
The money will cover about half the cost of the two-hour event, organizers said. The rest will come from private donations.
Tet, which falls on Feb. 7 this year, celebrates the lunar new year and is the most important Vietnamese cultural and religious holiday.
The parade is intended to replace the city’s annual Tet Festival, which was canceled for the first time since 1980. The festival had long been a source of controversy among Vietnamese groups and city officials.
Mayor Frank Fry Jr. said the cancellation stemmed from a lack of planning by festival organizers, but many in the community blamed political infighting between the newly elected mayor and Councilman Tony Lam, a longtime organizer of Tet festivities.
The parade will begin at 11 a.m. at Bolsa Avenue and Magnolia Street, proceed along Bolsa and end at Moran and Bushard streets by 1 p.m.
About 50 groups, including dancers and musicians of Vietnamese and Latino heritage, will participate in the parade, coordinator Peter Nguyen said.
“This will pay respect to our ancestors while bringing the community together,” Nguyen said.
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