The Mid-Autumn Festival is an important traditional holiday in East Asian cultures, especially in Chinese culture and East Asian countries such as Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. The Mid-Autumn Festival is also known by different names such as Tsukimi in Japan and Chuseok in Korea.

In Vietnam, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also related to the legend of Banh Deo and Cuoi. The story tells of Cuoi and the banyan tree unexpectedly flying to the moon and meeting Hang.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is also an occasion for families to reunite, express gratitude, enjoy the moon and give gifts to each other, especially children. Today, the Mid-Autumn Festival still retains its traditional cultural value and is still enjoyed and memories  each year.

Learn about Mid-Autumn Festival of the past  and present

 Mooncakes

The old mooncakes are rich in cultural flavors, made from familiar and simple ingredients such as mung beans, pork, lime leaves, peanuts, and sesame seeds for the filling. Traditional mooncakes are handcrafted by the skillful hands of people.

Nowadays, mooncakes are made with more beautiful designs. 

Changes in Mooncakes: Modern mooncakes not only include traditional types such as sticky cakes, baked cake but also feature a variety of new, rich, and innovative creations to meet the tastes and demands of consumers.

Go out for the Mid-Autumn Festival

The old Mid-Autumn Festival, under the full moon shining through the bamboo groves, was the bustling, boisterous sound of drums and lion dances. Children from the neighborhood would spread mats in the yard, with a few simple rustic gifts sitting together to enjoy the moon-watching feast.

Nowadays, there are many places for people or families to go together to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival such as: shopping malls, parks, lantern streets decorated with sparkling and magical lights. Participation of Companies and Enterprises: Nowadays, many companies and enterprises organize events, cultural programs and charity activities on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, contributing to creating a vibrant atmosphere and creating conditions for everyone to participate and have fun.

Mid-Autumn Festival Toys

Characteristics of the old Mid-Autumn Festival image. About 20 years ago, the image of star lanterns, drums, lanterns made from beer cans, milk cans, masks of characters in Journey to the Tay Du Ky, etc. were very familiar every Mid-Autumn Festival. And then, the children followed each other to carry lanterns, follow the lion dance troupe around the village, play blind man’s buff, hide and seek, dragon and snake up to the clouds, sing nursery rhymes, etc. Every time the occasion came, the children looked forward to the time to light the lanterns to go out and show off to their friends.

Today’s Mid-Autumn Festival does not require much effort to make, Mid-Autumn Festival toys are available on the market. There are no longer paper lanterns with candles inside, instead there are battery-operated lanterns that play music and have a variety of character designs.

Mid-Autumn Festival Tray

In the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival tray, there are usually 5 different types of fruit with the common symbolic meaning of the five elements: grapefruit, persimmon, banana; a pair of moon cakes, sticky rice cakes and some simple candies, but they are arranged by mothers and sisters very meticulously, skillfully and simply, making everyone happy and bustling.

Nowadays, Mid-Autumn Festival trays have been “modernized” more than before with many different types of domestic and foreign candies. Not only grapefruit, persimmon, banana… but also many more diverse types of fruit, more colorful. Therefore, today’s Mid-Autumn Festival trays are more brilliant and sparkling than before.

Although the Mid-Autumn Festival today has changed a lot to suit modern life, traditional cultural values ​​are still preserved and promoted. This is still an occasion for families to reunite, children to play and everyone to enjoy the typical dishes of this holiday.

Do you have any special memories of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam? Please share with us!