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Mid-autumn festival in Vietnam
When wandering around streets of Hanoi these days, you may come across with various colorful lanterns and a long range of stall selling some cakes. You may wonder what locals do it for and what those things mean. In this article, we would like to give the answer to your concern. Let’s discover one of the most important festivals in Vietnam – mid-autumn festival in Vietnam.
When you see those things with colorful lanterns on streets, with many cake stalls along some main streets, that means, it is nearly the time for one of the most longing festival in our country – mid-autumn festival in Vietnam. Mid-autumn festival is held on 15th August according to lunar calendar. This year, the festival is on 24th September. This festival is mostly for children so there are plenty of activities in which children are the center. The weather for such an event is so inducing for those outdoor activities held at night. On that day, the moon is the most beautiful and brightest shining like a gorgeous hue. This year, it is predicted that the average temperature goes around 27 – 29 degrees Celsius with scattered rain in some places.
1. So what is the meaning of mid-autumn festival in Vietnam?
On mid-autumn festival in Vietnam, parents buy various toys for their kids, prepare a tray full of moon cakes and fruits. At around 9:00 pm, it is the high time for family gathering together and enjoy all those things. Adults may be busy sharing about their works and life while kids are curious for their toys and other funny games. Thus, mid-autumn festival is the chance for family union and for parents to show their love to their children and for the children to express their gratitude to their parents.
2. What do people do during mid-autumn festival in Vietnam?
The most longing activity of mid-autumn fesvial in Vietnam is “phá cỗ”. It is when the whole family starts to enjoy the tray of moon cakes and fruits. After that, the children will gather to join some traditional games like lion dance, tug of war, star-shaped lantern parade, dragon snake, cat and mouse game and mud banger, etc.
Watching their kids play happily can warm any parent. This is when the family bond is greatly strengthened.
3. Which food to enjoy during mid-autumn festival in Vietnam?
The most typical food in mid-autumn festival is moon cake. You may ask, why people name it moon cake right? The reason is because of its round shape like a shining moon on full-moon days. The cake is made from bread flour (its crust), lotus seeds, peanut, sausage, pork fat for the filling. There are two types of moon cakes with different crust. One is banh deo with the crust softer than the other – banh nuong. Originally, the filling of moon cake comes from those traditional ingredients like lotus seeds, peanut. Nowadays, to catch up with the change in taste of eaters, moon cakes also become more and more modern from patterns, ingredients and taste.
4. Where can people join mid-autumn festival when you are in Hanoi?
Traditionally in Vietnam, the popular place to host various activities in mid-autumn festival is the social ground in local temple. This is a spacious area to organize plenty of activities in a village. Now, there are more and more places to host the visit of people to spend their night out in mid-autumn festival. Do these places sound familiar to you?
Imperial Citadel of Thang Long:
Imperial Citadel of Thang Long is located in Hoang Dieu Street about 3 km from Hoan Kiem Lake. On 15th August (Lunar Calendar), Thang Long Imperial Citadel gets crowded with many families gathering there to join in various activities.
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology:
Recently Vietnam Museum Ethnology is one of the popular places hosting Mid-autumn festival in Hanoi. The organization is so professional that it draws a huge attention of people flocking to the place to enjoy the festival.
Big supermarkets or central markets:
Some famous central markets like Royal City, Times City, Vincom Mega Mall Royal City also become a popular place to host mid-autumn festival in Hanoi.
When heading to such places, your family surely has a great time together.
For more information about the places to enjoy your time in Hanoi these days, refer to some following articles below:
