Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
Please temporarily borrow two verses from Nguyen Du's famous poem
alot handsome actors and beautiful actresses
Horse cars such as beautiful clothes fulled on spring road
To describe the excitement of welcoming spring among Melbourne compatriots at the special monasteries at Quang Minh Temple.
Spring is a symbol of better and newer changes and overcoming difficulties in the old year to achieve more beautiful and perfect things in the new year..
This Dragon Festival brings many meanings of strength, maturity and shine to all aspects of life.
Quang Minh Temple is pleased to welcome you from 6:00 p.m. on February 9, 2024 to celebrate New Year's Eve at the 5-hectare campus surrounding the temple
With beautiful weather of 20 degrees, cool breeze, thousands of beautiful traditional costumes of colorful Vietnamese girls accompanied by handsome boys, young men and women, children, and the elderly come here seemingly in big waves overflowed onto the beach.
It is estimated that there are about 30,000 tourists interacting and visiting the pagoda on New Year's Eve and the first and second days of the Lunar New Year.
Fellow countrymen had the opportunity to enjoy lion dances, dragon dances, fireworks and firecrackers served by more than 100 volunteers.
The guests attending and giving speeches on New Year's Eve include: Ms Colleen Marian and Uncle Keith Randall, Indigenous Elder, Gathering Place, Cr. Cuc Lam, Mayor Maribyrnong City Council, Hon Daniel Mullino, Federal Member for Fraser, The Hon Ingrid Stitt MP, Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, The Hon Natalie Suleyman MP, Minister for Veterans, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Youth, Mr Trung Luu MLC, Member for Western Metropolitan Region, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs, The Hon Katie Hall MP, Member of Footscray, Cr. Ranka Rasic, Mayor, Brimbank City Council, Cr. John Sipek, Represent Mayor, Moonee Valley City Council, Mr Bruce Mildenhall, President, Vietnamese Museum Australia, Mr Scott COLSON, Acting Superintendent, Victoria Police, Ms. Cam Nguyen & Ms Nicky Chung, President and CEO of The Australian Vietnamese Women’s Association, Mr Changhoon Yi, Consul General, Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, Youth Leaders& Children from the Quang Minh Buddhist’s Youth Association along with 3 charming MCs My Hien, My Phuoc, My Oanh and the music band Tuy Hong.
Dong Huong came to the pagoda to welcome spring and enjoy the traditional Giap Thin Tet at Quang Minh Pagoda.
You have been very surprised with the 9 unique small scenes filled with the meaning of the Tet holiday atmosphere of your hometown in a foreign land.
Giap Thin spring welcome gate welcomes guests full of luck and prosperity throughout the year.
The image of a majestic and colorful Dragon in front of a Buddha image is the highlight of the Year of the Dragon.
Images of flower boats named after southern rivers of Viet Nam , poor thatched roofs in the countryside welcoming spring in the homeland, cozy families of the past welcoming spring with old images reminiscent of childhood days cooking banh chung, traditional sewing machines, Sắc Xuân with 4 Seasons, the ancient roof of Hoi An in the central region, of Viet Nam with the old city of Saigon appearing with traditional cyclo circuses and many other meaningful miniatures welcoming you..
Thank you to all volunteers who came to enjoy the pagoda, all federal and state government officials, all the volunteers, the two youth Buddhist families who performed the performances, the security guards, and the lion dancing couple. Vovinam, maintained Gardening, office, Kitchen, business, library, ceremonies, ashram of Cưc Lạc Liên Hữu etc. and especially the reception team day and night for 2 consecutive weeks completing 9 small beautiful scenes under the supervision Consult Venerable Minh Tu for the magnificent and brilliant Dragon..
All of you are like swallows publicly helping off or silently creating a group photo that creates a brilliant spring for Quang Minh Pagoda in this year's Giap Thin spring.
I wish all monks, nuns, and visitors to enjoy a spring of happiness, peace, longevity, and all good things like Dragon wings soaring highly, sublimating to welcome a new year full of hope.
Phạm Phuc Nhân.
