Time: 15th day of the 8th in lunar calendar, – full moon day
Purpose: to worship Moon Genie, promote culture and familial love
Things to do: eating moon cakes, hanging around with lanterns, playing traditional games
According to Vietnamese culture, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as Tet Trung Thu in Vietnamese, is the most important holiday after Tet (the Vietnamese New Year). Tet Trung Thu usually takes place on the 15th day of the 8th in lunar calendar. Mid-Autumn is the day when the moon is at its brightest in a year. In that spirit, people worship the Moon Genie. According to legends, this holiday is originated from a Chinese story in which an Emperor under Duong Dynasty, Duong Minh Hoang, was taken to the moon by a wizard named La Cong Vien.
In the past, it is thought that the festival was originally celebrated to give parents time to gather with their children after the summer harvest was completed. They hold parties with moon cakes and fruits. People also believed that children were innocent and pure, and thus they were the closest connection to the sacred and natural world. This is also considered as the second festival for children. They are happy on that day because they will have a lot of cakes and have time to play many traditional games together. Moreover, parent will buy for them new clothes or a colorful lantern. The festival is very much like a combination of Halloween and Thanksgiving in western countries.
Eating Moon cakes
Today, there are many aisles selling “banh trung thu” or moon cakes on all over Vietnam’s streets. These cakes are made with lotus seeds, green beans, and an egg yolk, though there are other varieties of favors. Moon cakes are essential in each family parties or meals on Tet Trung Thu. Nowadays, they try to create many shapes and favors.
Before one month, moon cakes and colorful lanterns in various shapes of star, boats, dragons, smiley faces and so on are made to serve in the festival. On the special day, at night, mid-autumn festive parties with Banh Nuong and Banh Deo (in the shape of moon and land), candies and fruits are held at every family. They eat cake and watch full moon. Moreover, traditional games like “hide and seek”, lantern marching, and lion dancing are organized for children.
Lion Dances and Lantern procession
The other most visible tradition related to Tet Trung Thu is the lion dance. On the of full moon day, groups of children parade through the streets, some of them maintain a martial beat on drums, while others control an extravagantly decorated ‘lion’ crafted from molds and paper. The children have to ask the permission of host to perform. If they agree, the children put on a show that is believed to bring a blessing of luck and fortune. Afterwards the host gives the children lucky money as a sign of gratitude. These lion dances are fascinating, and huge amounts of children, ranging from little kids to teenagers, take part. Some are quite professional, while others a bit disorganized. As a result of having so many groups of children marching around, the streets of the cities echo with the sound of drums, as dozens of lions roam about.
Tet Trung Thu in different places
Today, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, together with lantern affection for children promotes education, poetry, dance, arts and crafts. Most overseas Vietnamese family would like to bring their kids back to Vietnam right in Full moon festival time to visit their grandparents, one amongst the most important ones in Vietnam.
Otherwise, most of them hold a distant festival on their own in the country where they live to remind the kids of their origin and national culture. Perhaps the best place to observe full moon and enjoy mid-autumn festival is Hoi An, a historical town in the central region of the country. The ancient town is densely with ancient shops of lanterns. The river running through the town is covered in floating lanterns, and the magical atmosphere. On this holiday, that is all about fun, and great to see groups of people dancing on the streets, following the people in control of the ‘lion’. Occasionally, you will even see a dragon, the most sacred of all animals, which takes several people to control. Their dance attracted a large number of people to join and at one point the man in the animal’s head set off a firework, spewing sparks from the dragon’s mouth and thrilling the crowd. It was great to see that these traditions still alive. In Ha Noi, you can come to Ho Tay Water Park, Van Ho Exhibition Centre and Giang Vo Exhibition Centre to have musical performances for children in these two days. In Ho Chi Minh city, around 10th and 15th of August, Ho Chi Minh City government holds “Full Moon Festival” parties for children. On this occasion, the city arranges for some 5.000 children to participate in lantern processions along the main streets.
Not only locals, but also foreign tourists are warmly welcomed to join in this special festival. Surely, tourists will have much fun when taking part in the parade, watching children carrying the lanterns, eating moon cakes and receiving gifts during the Mid Autumn Festival.