Celebrating Christmas - a new cultural practice in Vietnam

In the past, Vietnamese Christmas only had been celebrated at churches, or Christian, Catholic communities. In the past decade, celebrating Christmas has become a cultural practice in Vietnam. That gradually became a piece of  Vietnam culture and is an example of the phenomenon of acculturation in Vietnam.

 In contrast to the tradition of family meetings in Western, Christmas time in Vietnam is an occasion for people to enjoy hanging out at public places.  That is the special time for Vietnamese people, especially young people and children, to dress in red clothes and wear Christmas hats.

Noel in Viet Nam (Source Internet)

At Christmas time in Vietnam, especially in the big cities, the spaces become cozy and romantic with red. All of shops, restaurants, hotels, banks, bookshops, spas, coffee shops, other department stores all are decorated with the Christmas trees, Santa Claude and the inscription of “Merry Christmas” or “Chúc Mừng Giáng Sinh”. The melody of the songs Jingle Bell, Holy Night, Silent Night, Last Christmas, etc resound everywhere, even the streets made the atmosphere more holy and peaceful.

Noel in Viet Nam (Source Internet)

 On Christmas Eve, people love to visit the center churches in each region because the Christmas decorations there are very attractive and brilliant. In front of each Catholic houses have big cribs to recreate the scene of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem (Jerusalem, Israel).  Hanging patio string lights across catholic towns is one of brilliant pictures of celebrating Christmas in Vietnam.  In many Vietnamese people’s hearts, Christmas is a holy occasion to remember the birth of Jesus Christ - their God, their Savior. They pray and worship Him - their God.