Mid-Autumn Festival 2017 at Thang Long Imperial Citadel
Program: 28 Sep – 04 Oct 2017
Thang Long Imperial Citadel
19 Hoang Dieu Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi
From the organizer:
This year’s programme continues to present a traditional Mid-Autumn Festival featuring many useful and interesting activities for children, in particular, a school education programme which helps young kids to understand more about mid-autumn festivals of the past through documented works of the French researchers Henri Oger and Albert Kahn Museum. Children will also have a chance to talk directly to historical and cultural researchers and artisans, and experience the traditional games and craft making process.
Time: between 28 Sep and 4 Oct 2017
Starting from 9h00, Thu 28 Sep 2017
Opening time:
8h00 – 17h00, 28 Sep, 2 and 3 Oct (Thu, Mon, Tue)
8h00 – 21h00, 29 Sep – 1 Oct (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Closing: a festival party will be held at 19h00 – 21h30, Wed 4 October 2017
Venue: Thăng Long Imperial Citadel, 19 Hoàng Diệu Street, Ba Đình District, Hà Nội
Programme Content
Exhibition activities: Based on drawings by Henri Oger and precious documentary photos owned by Albert Kahn Museum in France, a space displaying toys typical of mid-autumn festival of early 20th century will be restored. The space is filled with stalls displaying traditional toys normally associated with mid-autumn festivals.
Art performances: Lion dance, water puppetry, conventional puppetry, music.
Demonstration and interaction: Coloring masks, making mid-autumn cakes, star-shaped lanterns, cylindrical lanterns, Buddhist monk lanterns, rabbit lanterns, glutinous rice figurine (tò he), paper doctors (tiến sĩ giấy) the stick-and-moon man, and making ceramic items in the shape of pets.
Artisans who will be taking part include the family of Mrs Đinh Thị Tú Anh who makes moon cakes well-known with Phương Soát Bakery on Hàng Đường Street; the family of Mr. Hoàng Bá Nhất who makes masks in Thuận Thành – Bắc Ninh Province; the family of Mr. Vũ Văn Sinh who makes revolving lanterns in Thanh Oai – Hà Nội; the family of Mrs. Nguyễn Thị Tuyến who makes paper doctors in Vân Canh – Hà Nội; the family of Mr. Đỗ Văn Kỳ who makes rabbit and Buddhist monk lanterns in Thường Tín – Hà Nội; the family of Mr. Lương Mạnh Hải from the pottery village of Bát Tràng – Hà Nội; Mr. Đặng Văn Tiên who makes glutinous rice figurines among others.
Traditional games and fun activities: carrying rice across a bamboo bridge (gánh lúa qua cầu), see-saw, boomerang, wooden horse, sack race (bao bố), tug of war (kéo co), stick-and-ball (chơi chuyền), clay crackers (pháo đất), board game (ô ăn quan), blindfolded drummer (bịt mắt đánh trống).
School education programme:
– Sightseeing for a purpose: exhibition of mid-autumn festival toys late 19th and early 20th centuries; watching documentaries about traditional mid-autumn festivals through the drawings by Henri Oger; photos courtesy of Albert Kahn Museum in France about Mid-Autumn Festivals during the 1913-1916 period;
– Talk to the expert: Talking to cultural and historical researchers about the traditional mid-autumn festival and watching artisans introducing and demonstrating the production of mid-autumn festival toys;
– Experience and interaction: making mid-autumn festival toys and taking part in traditional games, watching art performances like lion dances, water puppetry, conventional puppetry and music.
Mid-Autumn Lantern Procession and Partying: featuring such activities like lion dances, lantern procession welcoming the moon, art performances, games and parties.
Tickets:
– Adults: VND 30,000/person/tour
– Vietnamese students (15 years old or above) and old people (60 or above): VND 15,000
(Note: Student cards and identity cards must be presented upon purchase of tickets.)
– Children under the age of 15 and people who were of meritorious service to the country during the war are exempt from tickets.
Follow updates on the event page.
Related post
Mid-Autumn Festival 2017: Events & Celebrations in Hanoi
