Homeland Spring, the annual event held in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year Festival or Tet holiday, is a gathering for Vietnamese people living abroad.
| A Homeland Spring performance in 2022. Photos: Viet Art |
This year’s event will be held at the National Conference Center in Hanoi on January 14 with the presence of approximately 3,000 participants, including 1,000 Vietnamese expats.
The program themed “The Country: Faith and Aspiration” will feature a series of activities namely incense offering, carp release, tribute to President Ho Chi Minh and martyrs, meeting state leaders, speech by State President, art performance, among others.
The event will be broadcast live on Vietnam Television.
According to Mai Phan Dung, Deputy Head of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, the program is the biggest political, cultural, and diplomacy activity at the beginning of the year 2023 to connect overseas Vietnamese with the country. It’s also an opportunity for Party and State leaders to listen to their thoughts and honor their contributions to the homeland.
Apart from a gala, many activities which are very familiar to people during Tet holiday will take place at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel as part of Vietnam’s efforts to promote the conservation of ancient relics and intangible cultural heritage.
| Artists at the 2022 Homeland Spring. |
Launched in 1993, the event was initially intended to facilitate the exchange of thoughts and aspirations of overseas Vietnamese. The event was then named “Homeland Spring” in 2008 and becomes a major program, attracting the participation of a large number of overseas Vietnamese from all over the world returning to their homeland to celebrate Tet.
The Homeland Spring is one of the many programs through which Vietnam honors overseas Vietnamese (OV) as an inseparable part of the nation.
The Politburo, the most powerful body of the Communist Party of Vietnam, issued Resolution 36-NQ/BCT (Resolution 36) dated March 26, 2004 on OV affairs, affirming the Vietnamese community abroad is an indivisible part of the nation. On August 12, 2021, the body issued a Conclusion to reaffirm the role of OV and approaches to the affairs in the new situation.
Among approaches in the OV affairs, numerous activities strengthening patriotism and bonds with the nation have been organized domestically and abroad like Homeland Spring, Expatriates Visiting Truong Sa Islands, Summer Youth Camp, Gathering for Tet Holiday, Vietnam’s Cultural Day, Arts Programs, and National Holidays.
Through the establishment of Vietnamese cultural centers abroad and numerous celebrations, cultural programs have been promoted with the goal of preserving and disseminating traditional culture. Notably, traditional religious practices are promoted along with the popularization of teaching the Vietnamese language.
In addition to cultural and artistic programs, a number of policies have been put in place to attract intellectual OV, particularly young people, and to address issues that arise when overseas Vietnamese businesses, scientists, experts, and investors return to conduct research, run business, or make investments in Vietnam.
In terms of economics, overseas Vietnamese contribute a large part to the country’s annual remittances which reached US$18 billion in 2021. Vietnam is listed among the top 10 remittance recipients by the World Bank.
