Ha Noi: "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival" at Thang Long Imperial Citadel

Thang Long – Ha Noi Heritage Conservation Center organises
the "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2023" (Photo: toquoc.vn)

From 15th September, Thang Long – Ha Noi Heritage Conservation Center will organise the program "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2023" with many attractive activities for children and visitors to experience and understand more about cultural history and Mid-Autumn Festival.

Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the four biggest festivals of Vietnamese people, taking place in mid-autumn, on the full moon day (15th day) of the eighth lunar month, the fullest and brightest moon day of the year. The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from an agricultural ritual. In ancient times, farmers often looked at the moon, predicted the weather, and predicted crops: "If you want to eat rice in the 5th lunar month, look for the full moon in the 8th lunar month ".

From 15th September, Thang Long – Ha Noi Heritage Conservation Center organises the "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2023" with many attractive activities (Photo: toquoc.vn)

According to a representative of the Thang Long – Ha Noi Heritage Conservation Center, since the Ly Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival has become a national festival, taking place simultaneously in the royal court and among the people. According to Sung Thien Dien Linh stele (in Long Đọi Sơn Pagoda, Ha Nam Province) (1121), during the reign of Emperor Ly Nhan Tong, the Mid-Autumn Festival was held very solemnly by the royal court.

In addition to important royal ceremonies, the emperor also organised a three-day festival for the people to enjoy. Everywhere in Thang Long citadel was decorated with brocade and splendid flower lights. In later feudal dynasties, the Mid-Autumn Festival was still an important festival for the royal family and the country. In addition to traditional folk, families often make a feast to worship ancestors during the day, and at night display a feast to admire the moon.

And the Mid-Autumn Festival has become a children's festival by default. The children have been excited since the early days of the 8th lunar month, their parents buy them toys, and they have fun carrying lanterns, drumming, and lion dancing under the bright autumn moonlight throughout the streets and villages. This is a cultural beauty with thousands-year history of nation that needs to continue to be preserved and promoted.

Many attractive activities during Mid-Autumn Festival

Recognizing the importance of those intangible cultural values, every year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Thang Long – Ha Noi Heritage Conservation Center organises Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to serve children, people of the capital and visitors from all over. (The main day of Mid-Autumn Festival of this year is 29th September).

Coming to Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2023 at Thang Long Imperial Citadel, children and visitors will participate in interesting activities such as: Visit the display space of traditional Mid-Autumn Festival lamps in the form of ancient street stalls. Based on valuable sources from foreign researchers such as Henri Oger, Albert Kant; Quai Branly Museum (France)...

In addition, the Center has coordinated with cultural researcher Trinh Bach and artisans from craft villages specialising in making ancient Mid-Autumn lamps in the Old Quarter (Ha Noi), Thanh Oai District (Ha Noi), and Bao Dap (Nam Dinh Province), Dong Ho Village (Bac Ninh Province),... to restore lost ancient lamp models from traditional materials: Dó paper, Nhiễu paper (The paper is thin and wrinkled like a red thin cloth, used to make artificial flowers), cellophane, bamboo slats, rattan, glue… The most prominent lamps are models with carp changing to dragon, carp watching moon, crab, rabbit, butterfly, shrimp, peach, pomegranate, drum, etc.

Lion dance performance program on 16, 17, 23, 24 September
 (Photo: toquoc.vn)

Also, from 15th September, Thang Long – Ha Noi Heritage Conservation Center continues to maintain booths displaying traditional Mid-Autumn Festival toys such as: Paper doctor, stickman watching moon, carton mask, lion head, frog drum, bỏi drum (the drum is made of paper, with strings attached to both sides, and a bead attached to the end of the string so that when rotated, it hits the drum surface to create a very pleasant sound), tin ship, drumming rabbit, tò he, stuffed swan… Visiting the exhibition area, children will learn more about old toys and appreciate their nation's culture. For parents and grandparents, it is also an opportunity to reminisce about their own childhood.

In addition, the Center also organises useful interactive experiential activities for children such as making Mid-Autumn lamps (star lamps, rabbit lamps, cù lamps), making Mooncakes, painting carton masks, paper kites and unique lion dance performances. Experience and interaction time from 16th - 24th September at House N31 area. Lion dance performance program at the following time frames: 10 a.m; 11 a.m; 3 p.m; 4 p.m. on the days of 16, 17, 23, 24 September.

*Tourism Information Technology Center
* Tags: Thang Long Imperial Citadel,   Mid-Autumn Festival,   Mid-Autumn lamps,