Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Lunar New Year

AGE: 20 

Date of performance: 04/30/2025

Occupation: Student 

Primary Language: English 

Title-   Tết

Context- J is a Vietnamese-American student who celebrates Vietnamese holidays and festivals in the US. J tells about Tết, explaining “I celebrate Tết, which is lunar new year/Vietnamese new year. Usually kids get li xi which is lucky money (money in red envelopes) from adults but before they get it, they have to say good things/wish for good things to the adults before they receive it such as saying “I hope this year has a lot in store for you such as good fortune, a long life, good health, etc” and then the adults wish for good for the children as well. You eat a variety of dishes and celebrate the elderly who have passed away during that time by lighting incense on an altar displayed at home. People also go to a whole bunch of temples where they pray to Buddha and get blessings from monks.”

Analysis- J shares a traditional celebration of the Lunar New Year within Vietnamese culture—a popular holiday that is celebrated in Asia. Tết is a vibrant example of folklore as traditional rituals and customs within the Vietnamese community come together and are celebrated in honor of cultural identity. Some rituals within the celebration are the money in the red envelopes, which symbolize good fortune for the elderly and young. Although the Vietnamese celebration is unique, the theme of good fortune is common amongst East Asian countries. Oicotypes of certain elements such as the red envelopes convey how folklore is adaptable to its respective culture without losing its true identity.

Brasilian Birthday

AGE: 20 

Date of performance: 04/29/2025

Occupation: Student 

Primary Language: English 

Title-   Brasilian Birthday Traditions

Context- M shares a part of her familial heritage that influences how she celebrates birthdays in her family. M says, “I LOVE the brasilian happy birthday song, it’s awesome. It’s a tradition during birthdays to always have brigadeiro made, which is like a chocolate truffle ball made of milk, cocoa powder and butter that’s covered in sprinkles.”

Analysis- M shares a variation of the typical birthday most people imagine. Instead of the classic ‘Happy Birthday’ ballad followed by a whole cake, M celebrates her birthday the Brazilian way—singing the ‘brasilian happy birthday song’ and sharing many brigadeiro. An iconic element of folklore is observing how certain elements of a tradition, such as a birthday, are kept throughout the world but slightly adapted to the certain region/people. The way people can share similar customs but make it their own based on their unique traditions is a trait of folklore, which can be seen in M’s Brasilian birthday tradition.

Brasilian Festival

AGE: 20 

Date of performance: 04/29/2025

Occupation: Student 

Primary Language: English 

Title-   Carnival

Context- M shares with me a tie to her family heritage that she celebrates even though she doesn’t live in Brazil— Carnival. M’s mom is from Brazil, and M shares with me how they would celebrate— “We would watch it on tv because we weren’t in Brasil but we’d wear Brasil colors and usually eat the traditional foods like feijoada and coxinha.”

Analysis- In folklore, festivals are seen as cultural practices that exemplify traditional and communal elements of a community’s values, traditions and history. Carnival is a big festival in Brazil, celebrating Brazil’s diverse heritage and showcasing different folkloric elements through their extreme costumes, traditional dancing (samba), and the occasional storytelling. Carnival is an example of how culture and tradition are highlighted by a giant performance—a key element in identifying folklore.

Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival

AGE: 20 

Date of performance: 04/30/2025

Occupation: Student 

Primary Language: English 

Title-   Tết Trung Thu

Context- J shares a Vietnamese festival he celebrates to commemorate the fall season— “Usually we go to this big Vietnamese church where they hold fall fest and usually you just sit around and listen to a whole bunch of live music. There’s also different performances like the lion/dragon dance and you eat moon cake. It’s a time for family to hang around and spend time with each other where you play different viet games like lotto (Vietnamese bingo) and an animal gambling game where you put money on a certain animal and roll a dice and if the dice is a picture of your animal, you win money.”

Analysis- J tells about the Vietnamese mid-autumn festival filled with games and money, paired with ritual food and performances. Specifically, the lion/dragon dance takes place. These dances are typically high energy in extravagant costumes made with bright colors as a way to manifest good fortune and deter bad spirits. The theme of good fortune is common not only throughout the Vietnamese culture, but East Asia as well. J also mentions the eating of moon cake, which symbolizes completeness and unity. Tết Trung Thu is a living example of folklore as traditions, customs, rituals and cultural identity are celebrated when the festival is celebrated. There are symbolic rituals such as the lion/dragon dance, and traditional foods like the moon cake.

Toss of the bouquet

Date_of_performance: 04/25/2025

Informant Name: FR

Language: English 

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student/Vaulting Coach

Primary Language: English

Residence: Westwood

INTERVIEW:

I recently went to my cousin’s wedding in the beginning of April, I guess you can call that recently. One thing that I saw my cousin do after they got married during the reception, was toss the bouquet to the crowd. I knew what it meant, but my younger sister was confused why she did that, so we talked to my mom about it and this is what she said is the meaning of it: “Usually, at traditional weddings, brides will through the bouquet towards family and friends who gather on the dance floor and the person who catches it, if they are single or in a relationship, it would mean they would get married next. It usually surrounds women guests. It basically symbolizes good luck and love in your future relationships. It doesn’t mean it will actually happen, it is supposed to be a lighthearted and fun game where the person who catches the bouquet could get teased and to put pressure on their partner to make a move.” I found this interesting that the bride is willing to make the wedding about someone else and the excitement of them possibly getting married instead of wanting to keep all of the attention of them and their partner and how they just got married. I think my cousin did to keep the wedding ritual alive because it is to normalized to do the bouquet toss at weddings, you get peer pressured to do the traditions that your parents did before you because it is seen as the norm and what everyone should do. I just found the idea of tossing a bouquet at your wedding an interesting wedding ritual.

MY ANALYSIS

I agree with FR about how she choose to make her wedding about someone else by tossing the bouquet. I find western wedding traditions so fascinating and how it mostly focused on the women being given away to the man. For example, the dad walking the bride down the isle as a way to “give her away” to the husband. And now tossing the bouquet to the women guests to see if their partner proposes and it is always about heterosexual relationships or weddings. All of the weddings I’ve been too, have mostly been heterosexual weddings (due to my family members mainly being straight) and all of them have done the bouquet toss. But, the traditional aspects of weddings, example the bouquet toss, is rooted in folklore and the idea that the brides are met with rituals before getting married as a way to represent women losing their innocence and/or virginity. The bouquet toss falls under the idea of whoever gets the bouquet is next to lose their innocence by getting married and “belonging” to their partner and possibly losing the individuality they had before.