Tet 2027 falls on Saturday, February 6, 2027, the first day of the Year of the Goat. The government's holiday runs 7 days, Thursday, February 4 to Wednesday, February 10, 2027, and the railway's Tet peak stretches from January 23 to February 25.
So if you're asking when is Tet in Vietnam because every train in late January looks full, that's your answer. The festival moves each year with the lunar calendar, landing between the end of January and the end of February. Vietnam Immigration is a state office too, so those 7 days also matter if your eVisa isn't issued yet.
Tet 2027 Dates: The Week Around February 6
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra approved the 2027 schedule in Document 10065/VPCP-KGVX, and the Ministry of Home Affairs set out the details in Notice 11483/TB-BNV. The notice gives the lunar dates too: February 4 is the 28th day of the last lunar month and February 10 is the 5th day of the first. Count back and Mung 1, the first day of Tet, is Saturday, February 6.
Ignore any page still quoting a February 2026 date. That was the Year of the Horse, and it's done. No government has published a 2028 schedule yet, so treat any 2028 date you see as a guess.
| Date in 2027 | Lunar Date | What It Means for You |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, January 23 | 16th of the last month | Rail Tet peak begins |
| Thursday, February 4 | 28th of the last month | Government holiday starts |
| Friday, February 5 | 29th, New Year's Eve | Altars, family dinners, midnight fireworks |
| Saturday, February 6 | 1st of the first month | Mung 1, Year of the Goat begins |
| Wednesday, February 10 | 5th of the first month | Last day of the government holiday |
| Thursday, February 25 | 20th of the first month | Rail Tet peak ends |
How Long Tet Lasts: 7 Days on Paper, Longer in Practice
The 7 days break down like this. Vietnam's Labor Code, Law 45/2019/QH14, sets the base: 5 statutory Tet days for workers. For 2027 the state sector takes 2 days before Tet and 3 after, plus 2 compensatory days because a weekend falls inside the break.
Private employers don't have to follow that calendar. Each picks 1 day before and 4 after, 2 and 3, or 3 and 2, and tells staff at least 30 days ahead. So the tour company, the hotel cafe and the noodle stall on your corner can each reopen on a different day, and plenty of family stalls stay shut longer than the law requires.
The celebration is longer still. Vietnam's tourism authority says celebrations begin three days before Lunar New Year and last a few days after, and the cleaning, shopping and decorating start weeks earlier.
What Closes During Tet: Shops, Banks and Services
Expect cities to go quiet. Businesses and restaurants typically shut for at least the first few days of Tet, with staff gone home to their families. Canada's travel advice adds that the holiday can affect banking, public services including healthcare, transport and food distribution.
What that means on the ground: get cash and any prescriptions sorted before February 4, eat where your hotel eats, and don't plan a day around one specific restaurant or museum. Opening days for attractions over Tet 2027 aren't published yet. One fixed point: the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi opens on the first day of the Lunar New Year, even when that day is a Monday or Friday. Visits are mornings only, starting at 8 a.m. from November 1 to March 31.
The Travel Crunch: January 23 to February 25
The state holiday is 7 days. The travel rush is five weeks. Vietnam Railways runs its Tet peak from January 23 to February 25, 2027, with 57 trains, more than 800 carriages and about 300,000 through tickets. Those tickets went on sale on September 5, 2026, capped at 10 per customer each way. On that first morning, Saigon station was quiet, with buyers waiting about 30 minutes against 3 to 4 hours in earlier years, so the scramble has moved online rather than gone away.
The same squeeze hits buses, domestic flights and hotels, because people from all over the country return to their hometowns. If you have to move between cities in that window, book transport and rooms as soon as your dates are firm. Before you pick a sleeper berth, here's how Vietnam's trains work.
⚠️ The crunch outlasts the holiday. Landing on January 25 or flying out on February 20 still puts you inside the rail peak. The easiest Tet trip picks one base before the rush and stays put through Mung 3.
Tet and Chinese New Year: One Festival, Two Calendars
Vietnamese people celebrate the same lunar new year as China, under their own name: Tet, short for Tết Nguyên Đán. The calendars aren't identical, though. Vietnam calculates its lunar calendar on Hanoi time, UTC+7, while China uses UTC+8. When a new moon lands in the hour between the two midnights, the countries start the month on different days.
It's rare, but it happens to Tet itself. In 2007, Vietnam's Tet came a day ahead of China's, and the same one-day split is due again in 2030. In 1985 the two were a month apart. So check the Vietnamese government's date, not a Chinese New Year table.
What You'll See: Flower Streets, Lucky Money and Banh Chung
The best of Tet happens before Mung 1. In Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Hue Street hosts the country's largest flower show, usually in the days before Tet, and yellow ochna blossoms mark the holiday in the south. In Hanoi, the Quang Ba flower market near West Lake fills the week before Tet with shoppers hunting pink peach branches. Kumquat trees ride through both cities strapped to the backs of motorbikes.
Markets sell red li xi envelopes, lucky money that elders give to younger relatives and managers give to staff. Kitchens turn out banh chung, the square rice cake from the legend of a Hung King who chose his heir by the best dish. On New Year's Eve, the alleys of Hanoi's Old Quarter fill with curbside altars set with fruit and boiled chicken, and major cities light up the sky at midnight.
⚠️ Watch the fireworks, don't buy firecrackers. Under Decree 137/2020/ND-CP, individuals may set off only fireworks that make light, color and sound without exploding. Exploding firecrackers are still banned, whatever a street seller tells you.
Tet Etiquette: First Guests and the Right Greeting
Don't drop in on Vietnamese friends uninvited during the first days of Tet. The first guests of the year are chosen to bring the household good luck, a custom called xông đất, so an unplanned visit can land badly. An invitation, on the other hand, is a real honor. Take it.
The greeting is "Chúc Mừng Năm Mới," Happy New Year, and you'll hear it everywhere. Say it to the hotel staff, the taxi driver and the family who invited you. For the wider picture of ancestor worship and family obligations behind all this, read our guide to Vietnamese culture and traditions.
Tet Weather: Cool Drizzle North, Dry Heat South
The two ends of the country feel like different trips. Hanoi in February averages 16.2°C to 21.3°C (61°F to 70°F), with 19 mm of rain spread over about 12 days of drizzle. Bring a jacket for the flower market and shoes that can take wet pavement.
Ho Chi Minh City in February runs 23.1°C to 32.7°C (74°F to 91°F), with 8 mm of rain on about 1 day. Pack for heat and plan outdoor sightseeing for the morning. For the rest of the year, month by month, see the best time to visit Vietnam.
Visiting During Tet: Who It Suits
Tet suits travelers who like atmosphere more than options. The build-up week is Tet at its brightest, and the first days of the holiday are a rare chance to see Vietnam's big cities empty of noise and traffic. Walk or cycle streets that are impossible to cross the rest of the year.
It doesn't suit a tight multi-city itinerary. Closures, full trains and a thin restaurant choice all hit at once. Crime ticks up too: the UK says petty crime rises around the Tet Lunar New Year season, and Canada warns that break-ins may increase before and during Tet, sometimes aimed at homes rented by foreigners.
⚠️ Hold your bag on the side away from traffic. The UK says bag-snatching by thieves on motorcycles is common and flags theft on overnight trains while passengers sleep. Lock your rental and keep valuables on you during the holiday.
A Few Parting Notes Before You Book
- Arrive in the week before February 6 if you want the flower markets.
- Book any intercity transport for January 23 to February 25 early.
- Carry cash for the opening days of the holiday.
- Ask your hotel which nearby places stay open.
Your eVisa counts working days, and the 2027 holiday takes five of them out (February 6 and 7 are a weekend). By law, Vietnam Immigration has 3 working days to decide an eVisa once it has the complete application and the fee, and government offices are off from February 4 to February 10, 2027. Processing times are set by Vietnam Immigration, not by us, so if you land in early or mid-February, apply in early January. Here's how to apply for a Vietnam eVisa.