Vietnam’s Mid-Autumn Festival: Origin and Meaning
Jul 19, 2025Discover Vietnam’s vibrant Mid-Autumn Festival traditions - moon cakes, lantern parades, lion dances - and celebrate with AV Vietnam’s expert event services.
Every autumn, on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, Vietnam bursts into joy under the full moon. Known locally as “Tet Trung Thu”, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a time of legend, lanterns, mooncakes, and heartfelt community celebrations.
Families unite under glowing moonlight, sharing joy, lanterns, and the spirit of Mid-Autumn Festival.
1. The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival
Rooted deeply in rice-harvest traditions, Vietnam’s celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival began as a heartfelt moment for families to reunite under the full moon. Parents, who spent weeks in the fields, used this time to reconnect with children, turning the festival into both a celebration of a bountiful season and a time-honored family reunion.
At the heart of the celebration lie playful legends - most notably the tale of Cuoi, the man stranded on the moon with his magical banyan tree. Vietnamese children still believe lanterns light their way home, a charming ritual that continues today.
More than light and legend, Mid-Autumn Festival has come to symbolize three enduring themes: family reunion, gratitude for the year’s blessings, and honoring children with joy and treats. This magical blend of heartfelt tradition and community spirit gives the Mid-Autumn Festival its unique place in Vietnam’s cultural tapestry.
Legends of Cuoi and the magical banyan tree come alive as moonlight fills family streets.
2. How Vietnamese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam is a vibrant tapestry of joyful rituals that weave together playfulness, family values, and cultural meaning. Here's a closer look at the cherished traditions:
Festival decorations & setup
Homes, streets, and public squares are adorned with handcrafted lanterns - from bamboo-and-silk creations in Hội An to colorful plastic designs in city centers. Each lantern shines as a guiding light to lead the legendary Cuoi home, and in modern times, these glowing shapes fill every avenue of the city with festive spirit.
Handmade star lanterns swing above sidewalks in a warm, nostalgic glow.
Eating mooncakes
During the festival, families indulge in baked and sticky mooncakes filled with lotus seed paste, mung bean, or salted egg yolk. The round shape represents completeness and unity, as loved ones gather to share both treats and affection.
Mooncakes in lotus, mung bean, or salted‑yolk fill tables and hearts with sweetness.
Full moon night performances
Community centers, courtyards, and parks come alive under the full moon with traditional performances. Children join in singing folk nursery rhymes like trống quân, dance with lanterns, and sit together breaking mooncakes - creating a heartfelt atmosphere of communal bonding.
Lion dances
Lion dances, or múa lân, are a staple of Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations across Vietnam. Performers - often children or local dance troupes - navigate crowded streets in colorful lion costumes, accompanied by rhythmic drumming and cymbals. The spectacle is believed to bring good fortune and chase away negative energy.
Vibrant lion dancers burst down streets, drumming up fortune and festivity.
Lantern processions
As dusk falls, children form processions through neighborhoods and parks, each carrying a unique lantern - be it dragon-shaped, star-shaped, or modern LED. They sing traditional songs and raise their lamps skyward, lighting up the night and connecting with the Cuoi legend.
Worshiping ancestors
Families prepare offerings on their ancestral altars - typically mooncakes, fresh fruit, and tea - lit with incense. This ritual expresses gratitude and respect, linking generations under the same full moon and ensuring that loved ones departed are celebrated alongside the living.
Mooncakes, fruit, and incense adorn ancestral altars as love and remembrance fill the air.
3. Top places to experience the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam
Hanoi
Hanoi’s Old Quarter, particularly Hang Ma and Luong Van Can, transforms into a lantern wonderland filled with lantern stalls, mooncake pop-ups, and lion dance performances. Artisans at 87 Mã Mây demonstrate traditional craft-making, while live children’s musical performances take place at the Youth Theatre and Children’s Palace on the eve of Mid-Autumn Festival.
Lantern-lit Hang Ma Street overflows with colorful toys and joyful evening crowds exploring Mid-Autumn delights.
Tuyen Quang
Tuyen Quang is renowned for its spectacular Children’s Festival - a Mid-Autumn Festival highlight featuring massive lantern models, lion dance competitions, and parades. Known as the “Thanh Tuyên Festival”, it has earned Guinness recognition for the most and largest lantern displays in Vietnam.
Giant, shimmering lantern models parade through Tuyen Quang’s streets, delighting children and families.
Hoi An
In UNESCO-listed Hoi An, traditional lantern-making is a year-round craft. During Mid-Autumn Festival, the town dims its modern lights to let lanterns shine. Walk the lantern-lit streets, join mooncake-sharing ceremonies, and float candles on the river for a serene, magical experience.
Silk lanterns glow gently over ancient lanes, and candlelit boats drift peacefully on the Thu Bon River.
Ho Chi Minh City
Saigon’s District 11 - especially Phu Binh - and Chinatown (Cho Lon) host vibrant street displays full of plastic and star-shaped lanterns, bustling mooncake markets, and energetic lion dance troupes. Pedestrian-only zones fill with families enjoying evening lantern parades and traditional performances.
Lively lantern festivals light up Phu Binh and Chinatown as children giggle with glowing star-shaped lamps.
4. AV Vietnam’s Mid-Autumn Festival Event Services
Bring your Mid-Autumn Festival celebration to life with AV Vietnam - your trusted partner since 2012 in event equipment rental and creative production. Our full suite includes:
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Stages, projectors, LED screens
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Backdrops, seating, puppetry gear, event booths
Ideal for community lantern parades, school performances, corporate mooncake nights, or city-wide celebrations - AV Vietnam ensures every event shines under the full moon.
Contact AV Vietnam now to bring magic, tradition, and flawless execution to your Mid-Autumn Festival event!
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