Mid-Autumn feast (Photo: Ngoc Anh/ VOV5)

Tet Trung Thu - the Mid-Autumn Festival - takes place on the full moon night  on the 15th of Lunar August. The festival involves a number of customs: gazing at the full moon, processions of star-and moon–shaped lanterns, lion dances, and parties where moon cakes and fruits are enjoyed.

This year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mid-Autumn Festival was still organized at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, but were modified for health safety. Traditional toys and games on display at the Museum were also viewable online.

Ms. An Thu Tra, Deputy Head of the Museum’s Department of Communication, said: “This year, we honor the folk artisans who help to preserve Vietnam’s cultural values, and we encourage grandparents and parents to bring their children to the museum to enhance their family bond. Visitors can take part in lion dances, play drums, and take a tour to explore the celebration of the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival”.

This year, children took part in folks games like rope skipping, tug-of-war, walking on stilts, and bamboo jacks. 11-year-old Hoang Minh Khang said, “This is the fourth time I have celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology. Here I learned from artisans how to make traditional toys like masks and star-shaped lanterns. The activities helped me learn about Vietnam’s learning tradition and traditional culture”.

Children are taught how to make star-shaped lanterns (Photo: Ngoc Anh/ VOV5)

The children also made moon cakes, and paper flowers and helped to prepare a Mid-Autumn party.

Artisan Nguyen Thi Tuyen of Hoai Duc district in Hanoi, said, “The Mid-Autumn Festival feast is decorated with a paper doctor and many kinds of lanterns. The paper doctor is put at the highest place, surrounded by fruits. The paper doctor symbolizes parents’ wish for good academic results for their children”.