I think in America, we call it "Mid-Autumn Festival".
As a child, it was a fun holiday. We would get a lantern. The lantern frame is made in a shape of an animal using wooden stick. Popular shapes were fish or boat. The frame would be covered with this clear cellophane type of papers in specific colors, then it would be painted with designs. Inside the middle of the frame, it would have this spring-looking thing that you can put a candle on it.
On the night of Tet Trung Thu, we would light our lantern with the candle and carry it with a stick. Usually, the neighborhood would have a parade and the kids would sing the Tet Trung Thu song and parade our lanterns.
I actually have a lantern up in the attic made like this but the lantern is made out of metal wires instead of wood sticks. I'll have to pull it out tomorrow and take a picture of it and post it. Recently, I've seen many lanterns with battery operated lights on them but I love the old lantern best.
How are the Vietnam lantern of today look like? Please send me a picture and I will post it.
Labels: holidays, Tet Trung Thu, Vietnam
