TL;DR: Mid-Autumn (the 15th day of the eighth lunar month) in Vietnam is the children's Tết, with three main activities: lantern processions, lion dances and moon-viewing feasts. The North stands out for its offering trays of carved fruit and Hàng Mã lantern street; the Central region treats Mid-Autumn as a village festival, with the lantern night in Hội An and the Royal Palace Mid-Autumn in Huế; the South is known for its lantern streets and lion and dragon dances in the Southern countryside. The way it is organised differs from region to region, but everything revolves around children and family reunion.
What Is Mid-Autumn Festival and Why Is It Called Children's Tet?
Mid-Autumn Festival (Tet Trung Thu) falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, one of the major seasonal celebrations for Vietnamese people. The name "Trung Thu" means mid-autumn. Phan Ke Binh in Viet Nam phong tuc (Vietnamese Customs) records that people usually call it Children's Tet, yet some families spend a great deal on it[1].
Phan Ke Binh's Viet Nam phong tuc (first printed in 1915) records: the 15th of the eighth month is Tet Trung Thu; by day families prepare a feast to offer to the ancestors, in the evening they lay out a feast to enjoy the moon, and the head of the feast is the moon cake (banh mat trang)[1].
According to an article in Nhan Dan newspaper, Mid-Autumn Festival is tied to wet-rice agricultural civilization; when autumn arrives, people hold cầu mùa (prayer for a good harvest) festivals with games and singing. Images of Vietnamese Mid-Autumn appear in motifs on the Ngoc Lu bronze drum, and the festival is recorded as being held as early as the 12th century under the Ly dynasty with lantern parades, water puppetry, and boat races[2].
How far back the harvest-prayer festival goes, or whether the motifs on the Ngoc Lu bronze drum really show a Mid-Autumn scene, is the article's own reading; it cites no archaeological material for either point.
How Do Lantern Parades Unfold Across the Three Regions?
Lantern parades are the activity most immediately associated with Mid-Autumn. Children carry lanterns in groups along alleys or streets, singing as they walk, often accompanied by frog drums.
In the North, according to VietnamPlus, children carry star lanterns or brightly colored carp lanterns and parade together through the alleys, bringing a lively festive atmosphere[3]. In Hanoi specifically, each Mid-Autumn season Hang Ma Street turns into a space hung with lanterns everywhere, drawing both children and adults seeking childhood memories[3].
In the Central region, VietnamPlus writes that people treat Mid-Autumn as a village festival; in Hoi An, on Mid-Autumn night the old town switches off electric lights, leaving only lanterns and moonlight, while children and visitors float flower lanterns on the Hoai River[3]. In Hue, a Bao Tin Tuc article on Mid-Autumn 2026 describes central streets such as Tran Hung Dao and Le Duan bright with lanterns, paper masks, lion heads and mooncake stalls; children carry lanterns through the streets and lion dance drums sound in front of houses[4].
In the South, according to VietnamPlus, Mid-Autumn is tied to lanterns, from traditional cellophane lanterns to battery-powered plastic ones; in Ho Chi Minh City, the Luong Nhu Hoc lantern street is where children go with their parents to buy lanterns each season[3]. A memoir in Sai Gon Giai Phong recalls Mid-Autumn in a rural area in earlier days: most children celebrated in a "homegrown" way; those with money bought paper lanterns from shops, such as carousel lanterns, star lanterns, pumpkin lanterns and chicken lanterns; those without asked for bamboo to split into ribs for a frame and pasted on red cellophane, or asked for condensed milk cans, punched holes around the sides and fixed a candle inside[5].
The Nhan Dan article observes that Mid-Autumn toys for children come in ever more varieties, and that modern, highly entertaining games are being organized in place of traditional folk games[2].
What Mid-Autumn toys does Viet Nam phong tuc list?
Phan Ke Binh records that children's toys for this festival were all made of pasted paper: elephants, horses, unicorns, lions, dragons, deer, shrimp and fish, butterflies, mantises, flower branches, gourd trellises, spinning lanterns (den cu), slit lanterns (den xe ranh), temples, clay scholars and toads; he also notes that tin toys had appeared by then[1]. The list does not include the star lantern. The Nhan Dan article names the star lantern together with to he figurines, carousel lanterns, lanterns, spinning lanterns, frog-skin drums and papier-mache masks among children's Mid-Autumn games[2].
How are lân and sư tử (lion) dances performed across the regions at Mid-Autumn?
According to the press articles, lân and sư tử (lion) dances appear on Mid-Autumn night in all three regions; in the early 20th century Phan Ke Binh likewise described children parading lanterns and lions, with drums and gongs ringing down the streets[1].
In the North, VietnamPlus notes that many villages keep up the customs of lân and sư tử (lion) dancing in the traditional way; the drums resound, blending with the vigorous movements of folk performers[3]. In the traditional belief the article relays, the dance also stands for good luck, driving away evil influences and bringing good things to those who watch[3].
In Hue, Bao Tin Tuc quotes Truong Nhu Rem of Phu Xuan ward, who for nearly 30 years has carried on his family's craft of making lion heads and other handmade goods for the Mid-Autumn market; he says handmade lion heads and drums still hold their place despite competition from industrial toys[4].
In the South, VietnamPlus writes that in rural Nam Bo, Mid-Autumn is lively with lân and dragon dances along the roads, turning the full-moon night into a street festival[3].
What Does the Moon-Viewing Feast Include?
The feast is the closing ritual of the full-moon night: the whole family gathers around a tray set out in the yard, gazes at the moon, and eats together.
According to Nhan Dan, during the day adults prepare offerings to ancestors, and in the evening they set out a tray to enjoy the moon; on the full-moon night, adults and children watch the moon and enjoy a tray of cakes, candies, and fruits in the yard, called "pha co" (breaking the feast)[2].
The table below gathers what the VietnamPlus article describes for each region[3]:
| Region | Feast tray in the article | Activities mentioned |
|---|---|---|
| North | Moon-viewing tray with carved fruit: a dog from pomelo, rabbits from bananas, fish from persimmons | Star and carp lantern parades; lân and sư tử (lion) dances; Hang Ma Street in Hanoi |
| Central | In Hue: baked and soft mooncakes, green rice flakes (com), lotus sweet soup and other sweets | Hoi An floats flower lanterns on the Hoai River; Hue has blindfolded pot-smashing, tug of war, lantern parades |
| South | Cellophane lanterns, Luong Nhu Hoc lantern street; lân and dragon dances in rural Nam Bo |
VietnamPlus treats the carved-fruit tray as a hallmark of the North: fruit is shaped into a dog made from pomelo, a flock of rabbits from bananas and fish from persimmons[3]. Viet Nam phong tuc also records town girls competing in skill, carving papaya into flowers and molding dough into shrimp and fish[1].
What did the old book call the Mid-Autumn cake?
Viet Nam phong tuc, from the early 20th century, records the head of the Mid-Autumn feast as the "moon cake" (banh mat trang), not using the terms "banh nuong" or "banh deo"[1]. The Nhan Dan article, for its part, warns that some producers now chase profit and make poor-quality, unsafe mooncakes[2].
What Is Different About Mid-Autumn in Hue?
Mid-Autumn in Hue carries both folk and royal nuances. Bao Tin Tuc describes that from the Royal Palace (Dai Noi) to each family, neighborhood, and village, Tet Trung Thu is an occasion for the community to preserve memories and pass traditional values to younger generations[4].
The "Trung thu Hoang cung" program is held in the Imperial City (Dai Noi), decorated with lanterns; it includes the pieces Lan mau xuat lan nhi and the phoenix dance, a star lantern parade, and court games such as dau ho, xam huong and bai vu[4].
The article also records a trend of many families and schools in Hue still choosing traditional experiences for children such as making lanterns and star lanterns, watching lion dances, joining folk games, breaking the feast, and listening to stories about Tet Trung Thu, amid many modern entertainment products[4].
What Has Changed About Mid-Autumn Today?
Three major changes can be seen from recent articles:
First, the space for celebration has expanded. Nhan Dan notes that Mid-Autumn Festival space is not only the yard in front of the house, village roads, and alleys, but also children's palaces, botanical gardens, cultural houses, educational institutions, shopping centers, and tourist sites[2].
Second, toys and games have changed. Traditional toys are being overshadowed by industrial toys; Nhan Dan raises concerns about toys and games with violent, anti-educational, poor-quality, toxic, and dangerous characteristics[2].
Third, community spirit has expanded through gift-giving. Along with families, schools, organizations, and individuals organize visits and give Mid-Autumn gifts to children; many sectors and localities pay careful attention to children in special circumstances, children from poor and near-poor households, children in ethnic minority areas, mountainous, border, and island areas, disaster zones, and children with serious illnesses[2].
The Nhan Dan article recalls a milestone: after the August Revolution of 1945, on September 22, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh wrote the "Letter to Vietnamese Children on the First Mid-Autumn Night of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam"; according to the article, from then on Tet Trung Thu truly became Children's Tet[2].
Nhat Nguyet's Suggestions
If you want to give children a truly traditional Mid-Autumn night amid a flood of industrial toys, you can try three simple things: make a star lantern yourself from bamboo splints and cellophane, arrange a feast tray with at least one fruit carved into a shape together with the children, and spend fifteen minutes after dinner in the yard as a family watching the moon before breaking the feast. All three are found in old Mid-Autumn records, require no elaborate shopping, and match the spirit of Children's Tet: children get to make, play, and sit with adults under the moonlight.
If you live in a city without a yard, you can use a balcony or rooftop instead. What matters is not a large feast tray or expensive lanterns, but the whole family being present together for one evening, exactly the spirit of reunion that Tet Trung Thu has carried for generations.
