Versai Hoi Cho Tet -Vietnamese New Year Festival

Third times a charm!... 'Tis the year of the dog, and we headed back out here for another year of Tet Fest! Surprisingly, I thought there would be a lot of dogs, but that might be the only thing forbidden to bring into this joyous festival with a giant school fair/America's Got Talent/night market vibe. My favorite bits:Huge portions at affordable prices. Yes, there are expensive dishes, i.e. the goat curry is $20, but the portions are 100% splittable. I always fall for the bowl of pho (and am not a big fan of sharing said bowl), and end up not really trying anything else. This year the pho was a little on the oily side, but still an interesting experience to be slurping a bowl of hot pho on a Saturday night surrounded by thousands of people when (if you've read my past reviews) I usually reserve this type of meal for my pj's on my couch. Vietnamese coffee. LOOOOOOVE IT! People watching. Holy moly. It's incredible. Entertainment. The stage is incredible. I don't think there is any stage in New Orleans that is quite as bright or pumps out as much smoke as this stage. The entertainment was wonderful from the gal who sang "I Will Survive" while wearing the highest pumps ever to the dance group known as Midnight Panda. Beer is cheap. They have Tecate Light (and you can grab a lime from the pho station). Score. Some other sights and sounds:The gambling game Bau Cua Tom Ca looks fascinating and I think if they really wanted to capitalize, they should make the area around this game larger. There was a gang of boys at least three deep from the table that didn't move for an hour so it wasn't really possible to get in on the action. We wanted to end the evening with a Pandan Waffle, and they had two tents serving. We got to the front of one of them, and they were out, so we had to wait another 30/40 minutes in the other line. Womp womp, but if you're out of food, I'd say cover that bit of your sign. Interesting to note:There doesn't appear to be a limit on how many of the bomb bags children can buy without adult consent...I say this half joking but I watched a kid "Vegas-style winnings" fill a grocery bag with at least two dozen of these bad boys...I don't know what scares me more; the industrial-sized poppers or the bomb bags.I think this time and last time, someone had gone on stage to report they had lost their child...I don't have children, but as mentioned in my previous review, I would tie a balloon to them. This festival is bananas and I can see how folks can easily lose their child in the hustle and bustle so either leave the mini-me's at home, chip 'em (jk, jk), or have a plan if they get lost. Next year is the year of the Pig, so maybe next year I'll work on pigging out on some of their other dishes. 'Til then!

This is a fantastic event that transports you to another culture and fully immerses you in a Vietnamese festival. These folks really know how to throw and party and have a good time and there are plenty of drinks along with great food like plaintain friiters, various soups, kabobs, spring rolls, egg rolls and all manner of other things in Vietnamese that I don't even know what they were. This is one of the most packed festivals of its type I've ever attended and there is no shortage of fun for children so this is an event for all ages. Firecrackers and silly string are in full effect and you never know when they will be used. The entertainment and main stage are all top notch and could give a Vegas show a run for the money. The only negative thing I could comment on is that nasty honky hipsters were skulking and sulking about in their nasty depressing hipster ways.Hoi Cho = FestivalTet = Vietnamese/Lunar New YearVersailles Hoi Choi Tet is the Vietnamese New Year's Festival at Mary Queen of Vietnam Church in New Orleans East.The festival typically begins on Friday around 6:00 PM and ends on Sunday around 10 pm. Opening ceremonies with lion dance are Friday around 6:30 PM. The big entertainment with Vietnamese pop singers and local community talent are on Saturday night, around 8 PM.Entry is FREE!Food, Drinks and Live Entertainment!BRING CASH (as its cash only)!

I always enjoy celebrating the Lunar New Year in the Versai neighborhood of New Orleans East. My child went to the academy that is affiliated with the Queen Mary of Vietnam parish that hosts the festival so that's how I found out about it. I love the freshly made Viet foods they offer as well as the games and cultural performances they incorporate in to it. They have a variety of business representatives that you can talk to about different services. They also have an exhibit that shares the history of the community and their journey to the eastern area of New Orleans. You can bring the entire family and spend the day(s) celebrating the new year. I always enjoy everything about this festival each year I attend.

I have a hoi cho problem, you guys.Every year, I tell myself I'm going to save some money, not eat so much, not drink so much. And every year, I end up going to two or three of these things, spending hundreds of dollars over 48 hours, filling myself to the brim, and bringing home eggrolls and porridge to freeze for next week when THERE WON'T BE ANYMORE FAIR AND WHAT AM I GOING TO EAT NOW. What's up with that?! Vocabulary lesson, for those of you not in the know (don't worry, I'm not Vietnamese either): Tet = Vietnamese New Year/Lunar New YearHoi Cho = New Years Festival Marrero Hoi Cho = Occurs across the river, usually the weekend before Versaille's fair. Woodlawn Hoi Cho = Also across the river, in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Algiers Versailles Hoi Cho = The biggest of the three and the best of the best.Picture 3 full days of celebrating, eating, drinking (Heineken or Budweiser being your only two choices... and I guess soda), gambling, entertainment, AND a car raffle? Crowds of Vietnamese aunties and uncles gossiping, their kids running and weaving in and out, shooting silly string and firecracker-poppers at your feet and (literally) on each other's bodies? Booths upon booths, some with cheese fries, some with ticketed games, many with beer or pho or card games. That's just a snapshot.Versaille's fair is held at Mary Queen of Viet Nam Catholic Church, in the New Orleans East Vietnamese neighborhood. The entire festival is both a cultural celebration, replete with lion dances all weekend and community performances (local Latino and Taiwanese dance troupes perform every year, in addition to traditional Vietnamese fan dances and hip-hop routines from the Viet-Am youth), an eating destination, and a fundraiser for the church, which acts as a local community center, hosting cultural classes in addition to Catholic catechism. Don't forget the Vietnamese pop stars, flown in from Viet Nam or, more sensibly, Southern California's Little Saigon. You might not understand it, but you WILL dance. Food you can't get any other time of year at any restaurants are readily available, from tiet canh (gelatinous raw goat's or duck blood with liver), goi with goat tendons (essentially, goat and herb salad), to hoi vit lon (fetal duck eggs) and chao long (my FAVORITE- rice porridge with all kinds of pork offal--liver, heart, gizzard, intestines). Be prepared to pay, however, as these items are priced at that specialty rate. Also, the cheese fries are weirdly one of the best part. Nacho cheese from a dispenser is greater than melted cheddar or whatever. It has been written. There are booths and prizes for the kids, and even a little gardening/nursery section where you can buy flowers and miniature orange trees (are these called kumquats or something? I choose to believe in their bonsai-orange nature) and concrete vases. The location stays the same every year while the date varies according the actual date of Lunar New Year; the 2013 fair begins tonight, February 15, and lasts until Sunday, the 17 .

Have you ever had a tiny Vietnamese nun pull you along and order some blood pizza for you? I did yesterday.She also told me I should really get a beer afterward.Ok..Where has this nun been my entire life?...............................................................The Girly and I went to the far East...of New Orleans, I mean. To the wonderful New Year Festival they have out in Versailles. We were greeted by a large group of little kids burning themselves with firecrackers and generally having a good time.This is a rather small event centering on no rides like fairs, very few games and a LOT of food. We took a good look around to see what we wanted to try before doing anything else. The first booth we stopped at had banana fritters and the Vietnamese version of balut (Steamed fertilized duck egg). We got a couple of bananas and an egg.I told myself I would never try this particular dish. I'm adventurous but always thought this would be passed my comfort line. But we bought one because the woman running the line said they were "just right" and we should do it. So we did.We didn't eat the little ducky but we did eat the yellow stuff. It was sort of like regular egg yolk but creamier and had a stronger flavor. I actually liked it. What floored me was when the Girly wanted a bite. She wasn't a fan but she tried it and that is awesome.The fritters were amazing. Sweet but not overly so. The batter was crispy like a good beer batter. The Girly's favorite dish of the day.After looking all over, I came to a booth which had no English translations at all. I figured I was in the right place for what I'd been looking for but since no Americans usually ventured there, no one in the booth spoke English. So we ended up in the next booth where the earlier mentioned tiny nun asked us what we would like. When I told her, she grabbed me and marched me back over and ordered for us.Before she left she told us to get some beer or wine and said we were very brave. So the Holy Grail of the festival dishes arrived. Tiet canh (Blood pizza). It came with cilantro, chilies, (they only gave us 2 thinking we wouldn't be able to handle the regular 4) lemon/lime and was made of blood, gizzard pieces, herbs and spices and chilies. So you squeeze the lemon/lime over the pizza and mix it around. To my surprise, the Girly once again volunteered to try some. Believe it or not, the only thing she didn't like was the cartilage pieces from the gizzards. She actually LIKED the flavor. We both felt invigorated for the rest of the day. It was really a good time and a wonderful experience. We wandered some more and ended up getting a little green bun with some kind of pork sausage in it and what I think was half a duck egg. It was like breakfast sausage and an egg wrapped in a green pancake. VERY good. We liked it a lot.We were seriously 2 of maybe 4 white people there at all and we were treated like family by everyone we met. Really a wonderful feeling and a great experience. I would recommend this to anyone who is open minded and willing to step outside their comfort zones.and vampires.Bring cash.

I was very excited to finally try this festival that I have heard wonderful things about for years. I love a good adventure and I love Vietnamese food. This festival is located 'out in the east' just a short drive from the city near some restaurants that we love, so it seemed like a great way to spend a part of a lovely Sunday afternoon with friends.There was plenty of parking just across the street from the church grounds and we were greeted by some very loud pop music when we arrived just after 12 noon. I should have known that if we could hear it so well in the parking lot across the street that it would be close to deafening once we got into the festival proper.We wandered around for a bit taking it all in before we settled down to eat. There was an interesting mix of folks, mostly families with lots of children, plenty of merriment and more silly string than I have ever seem in one place. The choo-choo train was the driving happy kids and adults around the grounds and vibe was nothing but happy.Once everyone in our crew each found something to eat we took turns trying out each other's food. We tried pho with mixed beef, bun with grilled pork, the fried plantain fritters, Vietnamese crepe, spring rolls and some neat rolled rice noodle thing (not sure of the name). While there wasn't anything awful about our choices, it was decided that it was 'Fair Food' after all and not the best example of the cuisine that we all loved so much.We had a nice time. Probably won't go back again, but instead visit one of the restaurants that we know we love and get some great food minus the silly string and blasting music.

This is a fun, free event with seriously good food and music. The Vietnamese community here is strong and notably large, and I really dig their food. I was impressed with the variety of offerings...I sampled bahn mi, rice vermicelli noodles with chicken, egg rolls and some of the best chargrilled oysters I've had anywhere. Yeah, I pigged out. Then I tried something I've not had elsewhere, chè, which (I've since learned) refers to any sweetened dessert beverage. This one had a mixture of multi colored fruity gelees floating in a just-sweet-enough chilled beverage; perfect on a warm day. The cost for food is so reasonable that my partner and I commented on it. The music was classic rock from Groovy 7 (not the headliners, but we left too early to see them), and I danced in place to favorites from AC/DC and crowd pleaser Journey...the attendees went wild for the latter. There are carnival style games for the kids, and we saw lots of families here enjoying themselves. So much fun, and really nice people. Check it out!

4/5 annual fun and fix.tip #1: just go. no, it's not weird and no, you don't need to speak vietnamese or anything. just hang out!tip #2: bring cashthis is an interesting weekend long experience - and i say experience because it's part dining, drinking, dancing, entertainment, and education! don't delay until the end of the weekend because they will sell out of popular dishes.beware silly string attacks and the ground pop thingies! get some of the coffee, and then get that warm green waffle. you can get a solid multi-course meal here for under $20, and there's something special about eating it in a communal setting vs. ordering at a restaurant. there are menus and pictures, so you'll be fine.part of it is just being here - as others noted it's pretty much an adventure. give yourself at least a couple of hours to sit back, relax, and take it all in. in fact, you might consider coming twice to experience it both during the day and then also at night - the vibe really changes. last time we went, we brought a deck of cards to play some games in between rounds of banana fritters with a blasting music in the background.

First time at New Year Vietnamese Festival (Monkey) 2016..Free to get in i find everyone so friendly explain the different types foods, performances, games etc there's abundance of all types Vietnamese Foods prices are really reasonable, also have different types of seafood Shrimp, Charbroiled Oysters, Fish even Raffle tickets..Come out have some fun this weekend you will not be disappointed !!!!

This has got to be one of my favorite and most anticipated festivals in the city. Located at the catholic church in New Orleans East, you can find all of your favorite Vietnamese food, drinks, and activities here. Everything you could desire (foodwise) can be found here. Pho's, Vermicelli, egg rolls, fried bananas, bahn mi, oyster dishes, etc. etc. Even some more rare treats like snail and pepper, goat, and pickled pork. Wash all of this down with iced coffee, fresh squeezed sugar cane, or a variety of beer (most 16oz are $3)All of these are must tries!!! For those of you less adventurous folks, there is regular carnival foods to be enjoyedWhen your done fattening you face hole, take part in the numerous games of chance and live music and dance on the main stage. If you've never been, it is a must. Btw, the day time is gear towards children while the night tends to have more adults. While children are more then welcome, some of the games and rides change or end.