Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam
Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the traditional festivals originating from China and taking place in Asian countries such as Taiwan, the Philippines or Japan, but in Vietnam, the mid-autumn festival has also a distinct tradition and an interesting legend behind it.
The most famous legend about the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam is that a man named Cuoi who was hung from a magic banyan tree as it flew to the moon. It is often said that if you look closely at the moon when it is full, you can see the shadow of a man sitting under a tree. Children parade lanterns in the streets on Mid-Autumn Festival to help light the way to earth for Cuoi from the moon. In addition, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also an occasion to celebrate the harvest because in Vietnam there are rural areas and people here live mainly on farming, this will be an occasion to celebrate when the work is over and spend time for loved on family. [1]
The festival will take place on the 15th of August according to the lunar year with a lot of interesting and well-prepared activities. In the weeks leading up to the event, you can easily see some activities such as the lion dance group practicing on the street or the moon cake stalls being held and the sight of crowds of people every evening on the streets selling Mid-Autumn goods. Those are also the main and most prominent activities on this occasion in Vietnam.
Usually, on the night of the full moon, each family will set up a worshiping platform in which moon cakes, fruits and snacks are displayed. After that, family members will sit together to eat it and also known with a name that is “pha co” — an indispensable ritual in this activity
In addition, the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam will be an opportunity to buy toys or paper lanterns. In the old quarters of Hanoi and typically Hang Ma Street, lanterns are sold in many shapes and colors in the shape of animals and cartoon characters, this is a very eye-catching toy and is often given to children by adults — a way to show our love for our children and also to celebrate this festival.
And finally, a traditional and typical dish that is indispensable in the Mid-Autumn Festival that I would like to introduce to you is the moon cake, which includes 2 typical cakes:“Banh deo” is the white cake, made of sticky rice and filled with sweet mixture of lotus seeds, pumpkin seeds or green bean while “Banh nuong” is the brown cake and has salty taste with a mixture of egg, pork fat, fried onion, peanut and lemon leaves inside.[2] These cakes are elaborately shaped with details such as flowers, leaves, carp… and are usually round or square. The fillings have countless flavors including sweet and savory and the most typical can be mentioned as mixed, salted eggs, green beans or taro… During that time, you can easily buy at the stalls on the street with many famous moon cake brands or traditional brands since hundreds of years in Vietnam.
In conclusion, nowadays, the Mid-Autumn Festival is often an occasion for children to have fun after hard school days with family and friends. In addition, this is also an opportunity for adults to reunite and families to gather together, this is also a way to always remind us of the origin and beautiful culture of the nation. Surely if you have the opportunity to visit Vietnam at this time, you will be warmly welcomed and joined to witness a colorful and crowded Vietnam of activities on these days.
Reference:
- Liem, Jolie. “Vietnam’s Magical Mid-Autumn Festival”. SonaBee by Sonasia Holiday. 16 March 2022, https://sonasia-holiday.com/sonabee/vietnam-mid-autumn-festival
- Tran, Rachel. “Mid-autumn Festival in Vietnam (Full Moon Festive)”. Vietnam Discovery. 2 January 2020, https://vietnamdiscovery.com/culture-arts/mid-autumn-festival-in-vietnam/
