The annual Tet in Boston celebration commemorating Lunar New Year and ushering in the Year of the Snake will take place over two days this coming Saturday and Sunday at the Flynn Cruiseport in South Boston.

Organizers said that scores of performers, vendors, and organizations from the Vietnamese American community are lined up for an event that expects more than 5,000 people to attend. Doors will open each day at 10 a.m. and close at 5 p.m.

The all-volunteer-run event is commemorating its 36th year in collaboration with the Vietnamese American Community of Massachusetts (VACM) and the New England Intercollegiate Vietnamese Student Association, but, more importantly for this year, the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon is also part of the event.

Anthony Nguyen, 24, and Jaely Pereira, 26, are leading the effort this year.

“It is the best and most popular event for the Vietnamese diaspora in New England,” Nguyen said. “Because of the high demand we wanted to expand the experience and to also deal with the high population. So, as a group we decided to open it up to two days. Many family members have to work on Saturday or Sunday, so this opens up the experience to more people.”

Pereira noted that this is the fifth year at the Cruiseport, after having it at Bayside Expo and at BC High in Dorchester previously. She said they remain limited in their venues.

“The vendors are a huge part of the festival and it’s a huge part of the Vietnamese culture,” she said. “A lot of venues won’t let you bring food in, but this one does. We cannot eliminate the vendors and that’s been a limiting factor for our venue.”

So, the party will go on, with the featured colors being green, yellow and red to honor the Year of the Snake. In addition, the décor will focus on nostalgia of old Saigon in the context of what happened in 1975. “This year being the 50th anniversary, we really wanted to honor that and the generation that came before us,” said Pereira. “We want to remember Saigon as they remember it.”

Part of the décor will be a nod to a famous clocktower in Saigon and a church that all from there will recall. It also will highlight a trend in the community to remember more vividly this year the journey that Vietnamese American refugees and immigrants undertook. It’s a topic that often remains unspoken.

“We are honoring the journey of that generation and a generation before us,” said Nguyen. “There’s been so much growth here we’re aware of and so many sacrifices we’re unaware of that our grandparents and parents went through to settle down here. Fifty years is a big deal.”

Pereira added that they hope to create “dialog” within families and the community, and have these lived experiences inform the younger generation and “uplift the Vietnamese refugee experience in a meaningful way.”

On the entertainment end, the Vietnamese Traditional Martial Arts-Binh Dinh Academy (VTMA) of Dorchester will be Saturday’s opening act during opening ceremonies, and the performance will highlight its 20th anniversary. In addition, the Murphy School youth performers will be highlighted, as well as the Rainbow Adult Day Care Center dancers.

The headlining act will be the popular Don Ho, a huge attraction in the Vietnamese American community who is well known for his singing of “Paris by Night.” He will be performing on Sunday.

Finally, Nguyen and Pereira, members of the younger generation stepping up to keep the festival alive, are putting out a call for more help.

“I do this because I grew up in Dorchester and went to this event every year at the Bayside Expo Center,” said Nguyen. “I never imagined a time when I would play a part in it. I always thought it just happened and took it for granted…It’s very much on our shoulders and an urgent call for the next generation to step up. It’s only a handful of us, so if one of us moves or retires, we could very much lose this event.”

Added Pereira, “We’re working very hard on that this year in terms of getting young people to step into leadership roles. It’s the only way we can keep this festival going and carry on the traditions and the archival history of Tet in Boston.”