San Jose’s Vietnamese Catholic Lunar New Year festival appeared to be all smiles this year. But a recently-obtained report alleges verbal abuse, property damage, safety concerns and political weight-throwing caused misery behind the scenes.
The report — submitted by History San Jose to multiple City Hall officials in February — was kept hush for months until San José Spotlight obtained it through a Public Records Act request. History San Jose is the nonprofit organization stewarding the historic homes, landmarks and artifacts of History Park, which hosted the festival in February and sits within the 14-acre Kelley Park.
The 36-page document raises questions about the festival’s future on the property. It alleges festival organizers repeatedly shrugged off major safety and traffic concerns, berated History San Jose employees for raising them and “severely” damaged the sensitive park grounds with unauthorized firecrackers despite multiple requests to stop.
When confronted by History San Jose employees, festival organizers — including a prominent Catholic clergyman — claimed Mayor Matt Mahan told them it was okay to set off firecrackers, according to the report.
Mahan’s spokesperson Tasha Dean denied this happened.
“Neither the mayor nor anyone else in our office sanctioned an unpermitted fireworks or firecrackers display,” Dean told San José Spotlight. “San Jose is one of the most diverse cities in the nation and that diversity deserves to be celebrated at our shared public spaces — safely. Regardless of whether the festival relocates, we should expect all events to abide by the rules in place to protect the community.”
Bill Schroh, president and CEO of History San Jose, declined to discuss the report.
For the past two years, the annual festival has been organized under the Vietnamese Catholic community of the Diocese of San Jose, as well as the nonprofit Immigrant Resettlement and Cultural Center. The festival celebrates the Lunar New Year known as “Tet” in Vietnamese and is recognized as a must stop for high-profile Silicon Valley politicians, including Mahan, District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan and Congressmembers Sam Liccardo and Zoe Lofgren.
“Worried for personal safety, (History San Jose) staff stopped trying to stop firecrackers when guests became more emboldened from the night, alcohol,” the report states.
Nhut Ho, a festival organizer and retired deacon with the Diocese of San Jose, where he still assists with Mass every week, allegedly claimed to have Mahan’s approval for the firecrackers. The report also said Ho “verbally berated” a History San Jose employee who shut off unsupervised inflatables for safety reasons. The yelling was so bad the employee didn’t come to work the next day, according to the report.
“(Deacon Ho) became irate, threatening, and called her a racist,” the report said. “Following a series of abuses by organizing staff, HSJ Leadership sent (the staff member) home for her own protection.”
Ho declined to comment.
Political battleground
The report lists more incidents that allegedly put History San Jose employees through the wringer, including being screamed at by vendors and almost getting run over by trucks.
One of the festival’s main organizers, Viet Museum Director Hong Cao, said the report surprised him.
“We understand that History San Jose may be feeling hesitant about continuing to host the Tet festival. That’s disappointing to hear, especially after how successful and peaceful the last two years have been,” Cao told San José Spotlight. “We’ve always followed the rules, respected the venue and cleaned up thoroughly after every event. But if there’s a loss of trust or openness, then we may have to explore other venues that truly welcome and support the spirit of the Tet Festival.”
Cao said History San Jose and the Catholic festival organizers came to an understanding after city officials received the report.
“The issue had been resolved,” Cao said.
He also defended Deacon Ho, calling him a respected leader in the Vietnamese community.
“He’s devoted decades to humanitarian and religious service. I’ve worked closely with him, and I can confidently say he treats everyone with professionalism and kindness,” Cao said. “If there were any misunderstandings, I’m sure they weren’t intended as disrespectful.”
It’s another instance of History Park being caught in a political crossfire.
The park is home to the Viet Museum, a crown jewel for San Jose’s Little Saigon community, with the largest Vietnamese population for a city outside Vietnam. But the 147-year-old farmhouse — which stores hundreds of artifacts, photographs and art of Vietnam War refugees — has hung in limbo over a dispute between its founder, Loc Vu, and the Immigrant Resettlement and Cultural Center which manages it. The dispute has been marked by charges of nepotism and suspicious bank-withdrawals.
“While we can’t confirm this report was influenced by that dispute, it’s possible certain individuals may be using moments like this to discredit current board members or organizers,” Cao said. “That context really matters.”
The History Park festival has only been organized at this scale for the past two years, Cao said, claiming it’s now one of the largest Vietnamese cultural events in the region, drawing thousands of attendees.
“Tet festivals have been a tradition here for over 20 years, but these past two years at History Park have taken it to a new level,” Cao said.
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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