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Lantern – the soul of Mid-Autumn festival in Vietnam
Ha An 10:45, 2019/09/13
Lanterns are indispensable for the festival thanks to its colorful and diversified shapes, and its role of sparking the night of the full-moon occasion.
Among things featured in the Mid-Autumn festival in Vietnam, lanterns are indispensable thanks to its colorful appearance, diversified shapes, and its role of sparking the night of the full-moon occasion. 

For that reason, every part of Vietnam has lighted up lanterns on that day with shapes and animals described in the long-lasting tradition. 

The Mid-Autumn festival or "Tết Trung Thu" in Vietnamese is also known as Children's Festival because of the event's emphasis on children. 

The celebration also came to symbolize a reverence for fertility, with prayers given for bountiful harvests, increase in livestock, and human babies. 

In Vietnam, the celebrations are usually held one or two weeks before the due date in big cities with several cultural and traditional activities inclduing watch lion and Lykon dance, join in lantern parading, enjoying mooncake and tea with family members among others. 

Massive lanterns with various shapes, sizes, and colors modeled after historical figures, animals, and fables, among others, have become a “specialty” of the northern province of Tuyen Quang during the mid-Autumn Festival for decades. 
 
Giant lantern brights up the streets in Tuyen Quang city. Photo: Tuoitrenews.
Giant lantern brights up the streets in Tuyen Quang city. Photo: Tuoitrenews.
These days as the mid-Autumn festival is drawing nearer, Tuyen Quang city is busy and bustling with several giant lanterns across the streets. The Thanh Tuyen (Tuyen Quang citadel) Festival, which is held on the occasion of the mid-Autumn Festival, will see the attendance of over 70 giant lanterns in a parade. Meanwhile,  giant lanterns on Tuyen Quang streets have already numbered in hundreds.

In the old times, this festival in Tuyen Quang used to be simple and thrifty which was held separately in neighborhoods for children. Today, it has grown into a unique feature of Tuyen Quang on every mid-Autumn festival which is held with much fanfare with large turnout of locals and visitors. 

 The giant lanterns are made up of every day materials including bamboo sticks, sponges and paper, among others. Every one could become a lantern creators adding the colors and lights to make their lanterns the real artworks. 

Some lanterns, when rotating make a succession of pictures painted in its sides and creating animations of the dragon spitting out the gems or of fish swimming, among others. 

Some photos of Tuyen Quang streets lighted up with super big lanterns: 
 
Lanterns are made sophisticatedly. Photo: Zingnews.
Lanterns are made sophisticatedly. Photo: Zingnews.
The lantern creates animation of dragon. Photo: Tuoitrenews.
The lantern creates animation of dragon. Photo: Tuoitrenews.
Children are excited when seeing the giant lanterns parading on the streets. Photo: Tuoitrenews.
Children are excited when seeing the giant lanterns parading on the streets. Photo: Tuoitrenews.
Tuyen Quang streets gathers lots of people as mid-Autumn festival is coming nearer. Photo: Tuoitrenews.
Tuyen Quang streets gathers lots of people as mid-Autumn festival is coming nearer. Photo: Tuoitrenews.
Some people take photos with the giant lanterns. Photo: Tuoitrenews.
Some people take photos with the giant lanterns. Photo: Tuoitrenews.
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