WAIKIKI — Red and yellow banners and flags fluttered in the breeze around the Kapi'olani Park Bandstand yesterday during the Vietnamese New Year festival yesterday.

The banners and flags represented the country's push for freedom and the sacrifices made, said Tong Ma, general secretary of the Free Vietnam Organization, which sponsored the event. Several thousand people came and enjoyed the banh chung and banh tet — two traditional mochi rice cakes for the New Year.

"We want to keep the Vietnamese New Year's traditions alive," Ma said. "We want people to enjoy the special food for New Year and to share our culture."

At the festival, children and adults listened to traditional music of Vietnam, China, Korea, Cuba and even Israel. The Air Force Band played contemporary music as an interlude between the Chinese sword and fan dancers and the Korean dancers. They munched on banana tapioca and cotton candy.

The McKinley High School Vietnamese Club and the Kaimuki High School Vietnamese Club manned two food booths to earn money for scholarships.

"Today we celebrate the New Year," said Cam-Tu Trinh, a McKinley High adviser for the 56-member club.

On campus, club members practice their Vietnamese speaking skills and native dances, and share with other cultures.

"For a lot of our students, they don't speak very much Vietnamese at home," said Lily Van, club president. "This is a social club, too, for people who want to learn about the Vietnamese culture."

The Free Vietnam Organization, a nonprofit social group, was founded 30 years ago in Hawai'i to help newcomers adjust, Ma said.

Tet, an abbreviation of Tet Nguyen Dan, means the first morning of the first day of a new year of the lunar calendar.

This year it's the Year of the Rat.

William Nguyen, a Honolulu resident, took off work for half a day to bring his family and neighbor to the festival yesterday.

"We like to share our culture and to remember who we are," Nguyen said.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.