HÀ NỘI — The 2026 Mid-Autumn Festival has opened at the Việt Nam Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts in Hà Nội, offering children a range of activities celebrating childhood and traditional Vietnamese culture.

Addressing the opening ceremony on September 23, Nguyễn Hằng Nga, Director of the centre, said the Mid-Autumn Festival has long been a cherished cultural tradition in Vietnamese spiritual life. The full moon, star-shaped lanterns, festival drums and moon-viewing trays have become treasured childhood memories passed down through generations.

Since the 1990s, Mid-Autumn celebrations at Vân Hồ have become a memorable part of childhood in the capital, characterised by warmth, simplicity and traditional cultural values. Even when material conditions were limited, children's joy was kindled by candlelit handmade lanterns, drumbeats, laughter and moments spent with family and friends.

Building on this tradition, the centre has maintained and developed its annual Mid-Autumn Festival for Hà Nội's children, creating a familiar cultural space that has continued through the years.

At the 2026 festival, children can enjoy a wide range of activities in a colourful setting featuring traditional Mid-Autumn decorations, including star-shaped and revolving lanterns, lion heads, bamboo dragonflies, to he figurines and paper masks.

A moon-viewing feast featuring familiar autumn produce celebrates wishes for abundance, family reunion and happiness. Children can also take part in hands-on activities, folk games, physical activities and intellectual games, while interacting with others, developing creativity and strengthening family and community bonds.

The Mid-Autumn Festival for Children programme, along with artistic performances, exchanges with artists, street parades and lantern processions, will create a lively festive atmosphere where children can participate, showcase their talents and create lasting memories.

According to Nga, a meaningful Mid-Autumn Festival is shaped not only by the moonlight, drums and gifts, but also by love, care and cherished memories nurtured within families. The 2026 festival therefore aims to provide children with a safe and healthy space for recreation, while encouraging parents, teachers and the community to accompany them and help foster their character, love for their homeland and awareness of preserving national cultural identity.

Taking place on September 23-24, the festival features a variety of activities. Highlights include the “Under the Green Moonlight” children's art exhibition, showcasing entries from the 2026 Hà Nội Open Children's Art and Fashion Design Contest organised by the Hà Nội Children's Palace, and the “Green Dreams” exhibition by Teen Art Fine Arts Centre, featuring colourful children's paintings depicting a world filled with love where children can learn and play.

Children can also learn to make traditional Mid-Autumn toys and experience traditional crafts such as pottery, bamboo and rattan weaving, hand embroidery, and artistic coconut-leaf folding. Other activities include making mooncakes and age-appropriate handicrafts and artworks, playing folk games, watching artistic performances, meeting artists, joining street parades, enjoying lion and dragon dances, and taking part in lantern processions, all in a joyful atmosphere imbued with Vietnamese cultural identity. — VNA/VNS