Comment on Vietnamese New Year ushers in colorful spectacle

With an explosion of thousands of firecrackers under the watchful eye of men standing by with fire extinguishers at the Vietnamese Tet At Miu — or New Year of the wood goat — bad luck and evil spirits were chased away Sunday at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center.The 15th New Year celebration put on by the An Lac Mission and Ventura Buddhist Study Center shows the progress the temple has made over the years, according to the Venerable Thich Thong Hai, who is the chairman of the organizing committee for this year’s festival.“This is our way of passing on our traditions,” Hai said.