Festival in Vietnam? What will you have if you add up Halloween adventures, a Thanksgiving day and a Christmas evening? In Vietnam you will have Mid Autumn festival. Also known as the Full Moon Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the fifteen day of the eighth lunar month.                                                                 Hanoi Mid - Autumn Festival   Read more

Festival in Vietnam?

What will you have if you add up Halloween adventures, a Thanksgiving day and a Christmas evening? In Vietnam you will have Mid Autumn festival. Also known as the Full Moon Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the fifteen day of the eighth lunar month.

                                                                Hanoi Mid - Autumn Festival 

Every Vietnamese is longing for the day that the Moon is the largest and brightest. Back to the past, the history of this festival was the reimbursement of farmers to their children because they were so busy in harvesting and did not have enough time for little children. So after finishing the farm season, they organized a festival to spend time and give their children lovely gift. Another meaning of this festival is to thank God for a successful season.

Traditionally, during the night of the festival, children parade on the streets, singing with colorful lanterns shaped like butterflies, fish and stars in their hands. Before or after the parade, parents prepare for their children a lavish tray of fruits and moon cakes called Mid Autumn party, which they are together while admiring the full moon. Nowadays, children in big cities like Hanoi are more interesting in games on mobile phones or notebooks but you still can see many of them on motorbikes with their parents, laughing and looking around curiously in the Full moon night.

For foreigners in Hanoi, this is also the best time in a year for fruit fans, especially exotic local fruits which are at their best quality in the autumn. One of the most famous delicacies of Hanoi, green rice flakes (com) are also believed to be the yummiest in this month. Besides fresh food, Mid Autumn cakes should be in your must-try list because it is hard to find them around the year but this special time of the year.

Activities foreigners can see or join in Hanoi are unlimited. Dragon dancers are often been found on streets, especially in the Old Quarter around Hoan Kiem Lake. If you love the art of making paper animals, you should go to Kim Ngan communal house on Hang Bac Street. If you want to learn making traditional toys, you should go to Dong Lac communal house. At the Heritage House on Ma May Street, you will be introduced to Dong Ho paintings and how to play the game called Tri Uan. The Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology has made a commitment in recent years to offer children traditional mid-autumn festival events.

Those facts are definitely enough to persuade tourists to come and see a colorful Hanoi in the night of brightest moon. 

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