Tet Organizers Sue for $1 Million

A citizens group that has organized annual Tet festival celebrations in Little Saigon for 17 years has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking $1 million in damages after a similar claim was denied by the city.

Members of the Little Saigon Tet Festival Committee, seeking redress for alleged discrimination and other damages, contend that Mayor Frank Fry Jr. abused his position when he canceled a three-day festival planned for February without a public meeting.

Committee members said the cancellation was like “a slap in the face,” ignoring their year of work as well as 17 years spent building the annual festival from a small gathering to an event that attracted 70,000 people in 1996.

This year, a smaller, two-hour parade was staged instead.

Fry said he could not comment in detail on the allegations but called the lawsuit “frivolous.” He had voted with his City Council colleagues in May to deny the claim.

The Tet Festival celebrates the most important cultural and religious holiday in Vietnam.

In December, the Tet Festival Committee was denied a permit by the City Council, which said Bolsa Avenue merchants had complained that the festival hurt business.

Later, on a split vote, the council decided to relocate the festival from Little Saigon to a nearby school, a move that opponents argued would unravel the plans set in motion. Soon afterward, Fry canceled the festival, citing a lack of preparation time by a new group formed to plan the festival at the school site.

Many in the community blame the situation on what they say is a conflict between Fry and Councilman Tony Lam, a longtime organizer of the festival.

Jonathan Slipp, the committee’s attorney, said this week that the Tet Festival Committee would like to regain its rightful place as head of the 1998 Tet Festival.

“If [they] do not take a stand, then next year the very same thing could happen again,” Slipp said. “We have to make a stand for religious, social and civic rights.”