Outside the Asian Garden Mall in Little Saigon, dozens of vendors sell flowers, fruits, sweets, gifts and traditional clothing throughout January to help families prepare for Tết, the Lunar New Year.
For many of them, the business is a family affair. And, it’s tradition.
Eleven months out of the year, Nathan Wiwatniwong, 19, of Garden Grove, is a waiter. But in January, he takes time off from that job to help his aunt, uncle and grandmother sell willows, cherry blossoms and mai flowers for the Vietnamese holiday. The bouquets symbolize luck, youthfulness, joy and prosperity, he said.
People shop at the Flower Festival at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, CA on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. The Lunar New Year celebration is open daily. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A vendor sets up her both at the Flower Festival at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, CA on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. The Lunar New Year celebration is open daily. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Minh Quach and her grandson Nathan Wiwatniwong prepare cherry blossoms for sale at the Flower Festival at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, CA on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
People shop at the Flower Festival at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, CA on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A vendor helps a customer at the Flower Festival at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, CA on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
People shop at the Flower Festival at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, CA on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. The Lunar New Year celebration is open daily. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Fruits and vegetables are for sale at the Flower Festival at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, CA on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Pomelos are displayed at a stand at the Flower Festival at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, CA on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. The Lunar New Year celebration is open daily. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Kevin Huynh cleans his booth at the Flower Festival at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, CA on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
People shop at the Flower Festival at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, CA on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. The Lunar New Year celebration is open daily. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Show Caption1 of 10People shop at the Flower Festival at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, CA on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. The Lunar New Year celebration is open daily. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Expand“Spending time with family is my favorite part of the holiday season,” Wiwatniwong said. “I cherish this time of year. It’s fun to be here.”
While the flower festival opened on Jan. 9, Wiwatniwong said the weekends ahead will be the busiest time of all since the Lunar New Year is on Jan. 29.
Starting at noon on the day of the new year, based off the lunar calendar, the mall will host music, dance performances and festivities leading up to its annual firecracker show to ring in the Year of the Snake.
“I’m not afraid of the snake,” said flower vendor Thuyai Truong. “My son was born in the Year of the Snake and so was my sister.”
Truong has been selling orchids at the Asian Garden Flower Festival for more than two decades.
“I’ve always had a passion for flowers,” she said. “The bright colors represent love and happiness. They make me smile.”
Truong, born in Vietnam, raised her children in Little Saigon. For her, the flower market has been a means to share traditions with her son and daughter.
“My daughter is 18 now,” she said. “Her whole life she’s helped me set up this stand.” Her son, a medical student at Stanford, still flies home once at the beginning of January to help Truong set up her festival booth and again just before the Lunar New Year to help her pack up.
“I feel so blessed,” Truong said. “Not only to have their help, but after all this time to have so many customers who return to me year after year for their flowers.”
Truong sources her orchids from a farm in California. She also sells pomelos, a large citrus fruit that symbolizes good fortune.
Other vendors get their produce from near and far.
Jackie Nguyen has sold fruit at the flower market for 25 years. Now, her son helps her, too. The two of them also sell pomelos from California, as well as sweet green Vietnamese grapefruits and cherimoyas, heart-shaped tropical fruits symbolizing hope and popular for their creamy texture and sweet flavor.
Nearby, Khanh Hua sells Tết decor with his father, Quoc.
“We sell simple decorations,” Hua said modestly.
But they also sell hand-painted lanterns in bright pastel colors. Their hues of blue and pink differentiate these lanterns from the luminous red ones associated with Chinese New Year, Hua said.
“We’ve been doing this for a long time — many years,” Hua said. “This tradition has been passed down. It’s great to be here with my dad. The holiday is all about family.”
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