Welcome to VAAR

Our Story

The Vietnamese-American Association of Raleigh (VAAR) was founded in early 1977 by a group of Vietnamese and American volunteers to better serve the Vietnamese community in the city of Raleigh and its vicinity.

After the fall of Saigon in April 1975, the Vietnamese community in the Triangle area experienced a quick surge in population caused by an unprecedented exodus of people from Vietnam. Newcomers faced several challenges, including language barriers, cultural shocks and ways of life in their newly adopted country. The association was formed to work along with other religious and non-profit organizations to help them successfully integrated into this new society.

The association was originally known as “Hội Việt-Mỹ” and was led by Mr. Nguyễn Xuân Hiệu and Mr. Frank E. William as president and vice-president, respectively. Over the last 47 years, the association has steadily evolved with several leadership changes as detailed in the table below. Younger generations have continued to step up to lead the association to provide a better and stronger representation of the community.

The Tết Festival has always been the most important cultural event for the community. From a crowd of 300 attendees in 1977, it has grown to over 3500 attendees in 2024 with the participation of several religious organizations, Vietnamese language schools, Martial arts schools and Vietnamese cultural performance groups. The association also holds a summer picnic, Mid-Autumn Festival, South Vietnam Remembrance Day, Vietnam Heritage Day, etc. to preserve and promote our cultural heritage and to cultivate younger generations to lead our ever-growing Vietnamese community in the years to come.