InsightOut: Happy Lunar New Year, St. Mike’s!

A brief introduction of me, my name is Naomi Thai, and I am a 2nd-year student at St. Mike’s, majoring in art history. Blue runs in my blood (obviously), and I’m so glad I can appear to our big family of St. Mike’s with this article about one of my most favourite holidays of the year!


The first 15 years of my life were spent wholly in my home country–Vietnam–allowing me to be so in touch and in love with our culture and traditions. The Lunar New Year, which begins on Wedneday, January 29, holds great significance as the official fresh beginning, leaving the hardships of the past, and is strongly cherished as a reunion of families and loved ones. The celebration centres around rejoicing and bonding, as well as practicing spiritual wellness and respect to the Gods of our lands.

Naomi at the lion dance at St. Mike’s last year.

On the 23rd day of the Lunar calendar, it is a tradition for Vietnamese people to formally offer to Ông Công Ông Táo – the Land Genie and the Kitchen God–specialty food. These Gods are worshipped year-round with their own altars in the house, as their missions are to protect and bless the household with health, wealth, and happiness. The day of offerings is when the family symbolically sends them back to Heaven to “report” the household’s activities to the Jade Emperor – the Ruler of Heaven. The special animal used to “send” these Gods away is a carp. In the past, real carps would be released to lakes and rivers, but the modern approach to this practice is edible jelly carps – super efficient and eco-friendly. Fun fact: there is a special comedy show on National TV every Lunar New Year about these Gods’ journey to Heaven. It is the nation’s sweetheart of comedy, and every Vietnamese person you know has probably grown up with it.

A showcase of the Lunar New Year on campus that you might have seen is the dragon and lion dance offered by our college. St. Mike’s hosts this performance annually for the public with the amazing help of different dance teams from the GTA. The dragon and lion are both symbols of strength, prosperity, and power in East Asian culture. They dance along to the rapid instrumental of drums and gongs, to drive evil spirits away from the household and welcome new blessings. These dances are also performed all year round for grand openings of almost any business or institution, and even weddings!

Naomi’s family’s ancestors worshipping table. (California, 2025)

As a little memory in my childhood, whenever we’d hear the familiar sounds of drums and gongs on the street, my family would tell me “It’s a lion dance!”. We’d then roll down the car windows and slow down, joining the crowd to watch the lions. It’s heartwarming to see how these performances inspire people to pause their busy lives to indulge in the joy of celebration and shared blessings.

My favorite part about Lunar New Year (and every other day) has to be the food. My father’s side of the family are Buddhists, and their tradition every year is to cook special vegan dishes for the ancestors’ worship ceremony. The food will be served to the family after, and they are so incredibly flavorful every time! My top picks are sour soup (a tamarind-based broth with different toppings), stir-fried mushrooms with tofu, and bánh bột lọc chay – vegan tapioca dumplings. Vegan food is especially important for Buddhism, as they consider vegetables as the main fuel for a calm, meditative soul. The dishes are continually enhanced and improved every other day to make the experience more enjoyable and accessible to many people. Even condiments such as fish sauce have their own vegan version! If you have the chance, I highly recommend trying out Vietnamese vegan food; it’s a surprisingly elevated experience like no other.

I hope the little tidbits I’ve shared gave you an interesting insight into the Vietnamese Lunar New Year and allow you to be a little closer to my beloved culture. I wish everyone an amazing new year with great health, happiness, and of course, good luck with your academics!

Lunar New Year celebrations will take place on campus on Thursday, January 30 in the COOP from 3-5 p.m.


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