VIETNAM FESTIVAL AND EVENTS
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February |
March |
April |
May |
June/July |
August
September |
October |
November |
December
The festivals and
events are calendared in Lunar month. Normally, a lunar month stay
later than western month of around 30 days.
AUGUST
HONCHEN TEMPLE FESTIVAL
The
Hon Chen Temple Festival is organized twice every year in the 3rd
and the 7th lunar months. The festival takes place at the Hon Chen
temple, 10 km west of Hue. It starts with a procession referred to
as the God Welcoming ceremony, said to bring all the worshipped
Gods from the village temples and shrines to the communal house
where various rituals are performed, including the procession in
honor of Saint Mother Thien Y A Na. The procession takes place at
night on the Perfume River, which shines with a myriad of lights.
The procession involves a long line of boats bound together into
bigger rafts.
The Hon Chen Temple Festival includes a performance filled with
imperial characters. Actors dressed in clothes with splendid
turbans and tunics look like princes and princesses of the Nguyen
dynasty. These shows take place in the natural settings of
mountains, hills, and rivers. This Antique Museum of Nature shows
flags, fans, hammocks, umbrellas, weapons, and offerings.
Other months
SEPTEMBER
MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL
For a long time,
Vietnam and some other Asian countries who follow the rite of
worshipping the Moon Genie, welcome the Mid-Autumn Festival on the
15th day of the 8th lunar month. This is the time when the moon is
full, the farm work is at rest, and the weather is cool and
fresh. Apart from the Lunar New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival is
the most impressive event for the Vietnamese, particularly the
children. There is no other event in the year other than this
festival that provides them with as much entertainment, toys,
cakes, candies, and fruit.
About half a month
before the event, various kinds of colorful items, mostly cakes,
candies and toys, are displayed for sale along the streets, in the
shops and at the markets. Everyone, both domestic and foreign, is
eager to go either shopping or sight-seeing. On the festive day,
some families cook outstanding food to offer their ancestors
during the daytime. In the evening, the mid-autumn festive party
is prepared with cakes, candies and fruits. Cakes are various, but
a "must" is the banh deo (glutinous-rice dumplings) and banh nuong (cakes) in the shape of the moon and fish. Fruit ,
including longans, simmons, bananas, grapefruits, etc., are also
abundant and diverse.
The Festival is
exceptionally interesting for the children who play happily with
the bright new toys. The toys are made from various different
forms: the lion lead, the animal in folk tales and stories. The
lanterns are colorful and of various kinds, such as the rabbit,
the carp, etc. Besides traditional carton paper toys, plastic and
bamboo plates, ships, tanks, etc. made of plastics with batteries
and having remote controls are also on sale. This is
understandable due to the economic improvements of the people.
Whether organized in the city or countryside, the preserved
tradition of the
Mid-Autumn Festival is reflected in the way the
children play games such as seek-and-hide, lion dancing, lantern
marching, etc.
The welcome-the-moon
party in the evening is a good opportunity for the children not
only to enjoy the food, but also to learn more from their
grandparents and parents. They are told how to prepare the party
in the most attractive way. To decorate the party, there is always
a "doctor" made of paper or dough, which reminds the children of
the high achievements to be obtained in their studies. The time to
start enjoying the party is solemnly shared by the whole family
and becomes the most sacred moment of the Mid-Autumn Festival. In
the bright moonlight, clear sky and fresh environment, everybody
is relaxed with a pure and detached joy.
Lion dances are also
thought to ensure good fortune. Accompanied by gongs and bells, a
man in a huge lion mask is followed by a train of children who
carry a long cloth tail. This dance is based on a legend about an
old woman who was caught by a lion on the night of the Mid-Autumn
Festival. She asked the lion to allow her to attend the evening's
festivities, promised to return the next day and accepted her
fate. The lion agreed and the woman joined her neighbors in
celebration. Come morning, she remembered her predicament and
began to cry, at which time the gods intervened and sent a magical
snake to save her. The dance is a recreation of the fight between
the snake and the gullible hon.
Starting Dates in Western
Calendar 2005 Sept 18, 2020 Oct
6, 2007 Sept 25, 2020 Sept 14.
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