Vietnam Mid-Autumn Festival (also known as Tet Trung Thu) is organized in the middle of the Autumn, which is the 15th day of the eighth lunar month of the year.
In 2024, Vietnam Mid-Autumn Festival, the Full Moon is on Tuesday, 17 September
As same as traditional Tet holiday in Vietnam, this Tet is the occasion for members in families to gather, warm up memories together and refresh the soul before welcoming half left of the year. These days spread jubilantly exciting and thrilling atmosphere all around the corners to everyone, especially kids with a lot of colorful costumes and interesting games to have some fun.
Mid-Autumn – full moon Festival costumes and game tools for people of all ages, especially for children
From the beginning of the month, people have prepared for the festival with colorful and different shape lanterns. Moon cakes or mid-autumn cakes are also prepared along with the various toys for children. There are many traditional toys that the most typical ones are star lantern, paper doctor human, animal shape lantern, etc. Children carry the lanterns walk from streets to streets in the funny sounds of their singing every evening. When the principle time of the festival comes, there are groups of lion dance with crowded drums and cymbals. In this occasion, to enjoy the beauty of the moon, there are many activities are organized. Adults and children have their own way of celebrating. Therefore, mid – autumn is the best choice for your Vietnam family tour.
Dates of Vietnam mid-Autumn, full moon festival
- 2024: Tuesday 17th September
- 2025: Saturday 06th October
Things to Do in Vietnam full moon
Joining competition of feast and lantern
Mid-Autumn lanterns
In the day of Mid-Autumn, people make the feast with moon shape cakes, lanterns and flowers decorating, and jubilant dancing. There are many competitions to make feast and make cakes among the women. Children would also have competition in showing their lanterns, and lantern processing. Many families place the feast for children and there was often a paper doctor human in the highest location of the feast, and the fruits and flowers surround all. After enjoy the feast and moon, children will eat what they have in the feast while it is on the late evening. With the central Vietnam with World Heritage tour, especially visiting Hoi An tourists can enjoy all these interesting activities.
Admiring folk songs singing contest
Children singing folk songs in the festival
There is a custom of singing contest in the North of Vietnam. Two groups of women and men sing and compete with each other. They also play an instrument made from a drum and a string above the surface of the drum to create the rhythm of the song. The songs may be already written or created promptly by the competitors. The competition would be happy most of the time, but it also could aggressive when there is a hard riddle.
Watching traditional lion dance
Vietnamese traditional lion dances
In the occasion of Mid-autumn, there is a custom of Lion dance. People often practice the lion dance in the 14th and 15th of the eighth lunar month. There is often a person holding the lion head and a person holding the flag to dance along with the rhythm of the dance. The head of the lion has a long tail made from red cloth. There are also cymbals, five color flag, and a person holding a stick to support the lion head. The group of lion dance is ahead, and the adults and children are behind. In these days, there are often some money awards for children in the family hanging on the height for the lion to catch.
Children often go to the lion dance early, since 7th and 8th of eight lunar month, they just come to have fun but not want to catch the awards. However, the people love them, and they still give them money.
Foods for full moon holiday in Vietnam
Mooncakes
Mooncake, a traditional and cultural food in every mid-autumn festival of Vietnam
This is the traditional and must-eat food in Vietnam Mid-Autumn Festival. This occasion is not only for lunar appreciation but also for moon admiring, when moon shines perfectly round and bright. Therefore, trying mooncake is a classic activity that wishes to bring lucks to people.
Mooncake has a lot of tasty flavor with different colorful fillings such as: traditional red bean, lotus seed paste, mixed ingredients, matcha, chocolate, lava, salt egg yolk,… You will also get surprised by flawlessly baked crust of this special dessert, covered by lard or vegetable oil.
Pickled Hong fruit (Hong ngam)
Pickled Hong fruit
It can be said that pickled Hong is one of the most expected and looked forward to enjoying by Vietnamese every autumn, particularly in Vietnam Mid-Autumn Festival. This fruit has its hard knob and the flesh is orange-yellow, with unforgettable soft and sweet taste.
You can find this nutritious and rich of vitamin A dish sold on every street in Hanoi.
Sticky rice with nuggets (Xoi com)
Sticky rice with nuggets
This food results from the ingenious combination of 3 main ingredients: green beans, grated coconut and fresh nuggets. Xoi com is one of the most popular dishes in Vietnam and you can have it best in autumn.
Your Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam will be incomplete without Xoi com.
Grapefruit salad
Grapefruit salad
This salad is getting familiar in meals every mid-autumn festival. It includes boiled shrimp and pork immersed into a tasty sauce with fish sauce, honey, chili and lemon. Last but not least is grapefruit for sour and fresh flavor. You can add some grilled laksa leaves for the best taste.
Today, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, together with lantern affection for children promotes education, poetry, dance, arts and crafts. Most overseas Vietnamese family would like to bring their kids back to Vietnam right in Full moon festival time to visit their grandparents, one amongst the most important ones in Vietnam.
Not only locals, but also foreign tourists are warmly welcomed to join in this special festival. Surely, tourists will have much fun when taking part in the parade, watching children carrying the lanterns, eating moon cakes and receiving gifts during the Mid Autumn Festival in your Vietnam tours especially when visiting Hanoi old quarter, Hoi An, and Hue.
