Two dragons, scaring away bad luck and evil spirits, marched through on the shoulders of dancers, tantalized by more firecrackers dangling from a trident wielded by another dancer.

Oakland's fourth annual Tet celebration Sunday was a spirited introduction to the Year of the Rooster, which technically begins Wednesday.

Tet Nguyen Dan -- roughly, the first day of the new year, according to Trung Duy Nguyen, one of the organizers -- is the most important holiday on the Vietnamese calendar. In Vietnam, it usually lasts at least three days and sometimes goes as long as a week.

"It's as important to us as Christmas is to American people," said Christina Lam, 15, of Oakland. "It's like a fresh start."

In the Bay Area, there were Tet festivals in Oakland and San Francisco on Sunday. Next Saturday and Sunday, there will be one in San Jose.

Buddhist in origin, Tet marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year, as do parallel celebrations in China and elsewhere in eastern Asia.

A ceremony at a Buddhist shrine set up under a tent honored ancestors, explained Khanh Huynh, one of two younger men among a group of elders dressed in traditional garb performing the ritual. It included gongs, drums and the pouring of rice wine from a kettle into two cups the men placed on the altar along with what Huynh described as "firesticks," which looked like incense sticks.

"We pray to our ancestors and those who have sacrificed for country, freedom and democracy," said Nam Loc, an organizer. "We do this so we can share the traditions with the younger generation."

Sunday's informal themes were freedom and youth, said Philip Tuong Duy Nguyen, executive director of the Southeast Asian Community Center of San Francisco and San Jose, a main sponsor of the event.

"We will not denounce anything," Philip Nguyen said. "We have freedom here; we would like very much our fellows there (in Vietnam) to have freedom, too," he said, paraphrasing an address delivered by an elder from the stage.

But political messages abounded nonetheless, along with reminders that wounds of war do not heal in a generation's time.

Thu Hong sang "The Star-Spangled Banner." A chorus sang "Viet Nam Cong Hoa," the national anthem of the Republic of (South) Vietnam. A cluster of red, white, blue and yellow balloons was released from the stage, attached to South Vietnam's yellow flag with three red lines. Most Californians of Vietnamese heritage, including perhaps 35,000 in Alameda County and a total 170,000 in the Bay Area, hail from the former South Vietnam, Philip Nguyen said.

There was a moment of silence for Americans and Vietnamese who fought and died in the Vietnam War and for the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and December's catastrophic tsunami.

There was food, children's games and merchant booths, including several selling Vietnamese books and DVDs, and performances by famous pop singers, including Huong Lan, Thu Phuong, Than Lanh and The Sonh.

Leyna Nguyen, reporter and anchorwoman for two Los Angeles network affiliates, supplied the English-language narration.

Representatives of the governor, lieutenant governor and state legislators delivered best wishes. Oakland City Council President Ignacio de la Fuente, touting cultural diversity as the reason Oakland is a great city, observed, "The rooster in my culture, the Mexican culture, is a fighting animal," to applause.