What are regulations on the customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam?

What are regulations on the customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam?

Mid-Autumn Festival is known by various names such as Moon Festival, Lantern Festival, Reunion Festival, etc.

The annual Mid-Autumn Festival according to the lunar calendar falls on the 15th day of the 8th month. It is a traditional festival celebrated yearly in Vietnam. On this day, school children across the country participate in different fun activities such as: breaking the feast, lantern parades, engaging in activities organized at schools or local areas, etc.

In Vietnam, the Mid-Autumn Festival typically involves following contents: "During the day, prepare offerings for the ancestors; in the evening, set up a feast to enjoy the moon. The head of the feast is the mooncake, and various colorful products like green, red, white, and yellow cakes and fruits are used. Women in the neighborhood compete in showcasing their skills by carving papayas into various flowers, molding dough into shrimp and fish, which look quite beautiful."

Additionally, symbolic activities associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival include:

- Lantern Parade

Songs like “Lantern Parade in August” or “Star-shaped Lantern” are childhood memories for many Vietnamese people and continue to be passed down to children on this day.

- Breaking the Feast and Moon Gazing

The five-fruit tray is an indispensable part of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Initially, it was an offering to the moon and heaven and earth, hoping for a bountiful harvest. Later, it became a platter for families to show reverence to their ancestors during the reunion.

- Lion Dance

The lion dance custom in the Mid-Autumn Festival days is so familiar that it has become an irreplaceable characteristic of this day.

Note: The information is for reference only.

What are regulations on the customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What are notable activities for students and children during the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2024 in Vietnam?

Every year, local areas or businesses in the region, schools, etc., will organize fun activities such as breaking the feast, lantern parade, entertainment activities around the theme of the Mid-Autumn Festival for children.

For instance, in 2024, a Mid-Autumn Festival will be held in Ninh Binh according to the Plan of "Mid-Autumn Festival 2024," issued with Decision 2457/QD-BVHTTDL in 2024 (Download) as follows:

“Mid-Autumn Festival 2024” is an annual activity providing a meaningful playground for children during the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival of the nation. The festival's activities will take children to dreams, magical stories, and future aspirations, contributing to the complete development of Vietnamese people's character and preserving national cultural identity.

The Mid-Autumn Festival 2024 - Ninh Binh Province will organize several fun activities for students, such as:

[1] Exhibition Space “Mid-Autumn Festival through Toys”

- The Mid-Autumn toys are not merely for entertainment but also educational tools, nourishing the young generation's souls, silently and profoundly conveying the ancestors' wishes for a diligent study spirit and encouragement for learning and achievement.

[2] Play and Experience Activities

- Guided experiences of traditional crafts, toy making, and handicrafts.

- Children will learn about the history of craft villages, watch devoted artists, and create their products such as molding pottery, spinning pottery, mosaic painting, hand weaving, printing folk paintings, making tires sandals, pressing dried flowers, brocade embroidery, quilting, making traditional cakes...

- Art Experience

Circus - Variety Arts: Children will practice performing with suitable circus disciplines such as riding a unicycle, balancing on rollers, balls, bamboo ladders, stilts, juggling, hula hooping, balloon artistry…

- Puppet Art: Artists will perform and guide children in entertaining and close performances of puppetry.

- Singing - Dancing - Music - Fashion Show: Helps children develop skills, awaken talents, and create a healthy playground after stressful school hours.

- Sports Experience

+ Participation, exploration, and playing chess - an intellectual sport.

+ Performing traditional martial arts, lion - dragon dance.

- Fire Safety Propaganda, Skills Guidance Activities

+ Participate in useful activities about fire prevention and firefighting; guidance on skills when encountering fire and explosion incidents; rescue and first aid skills for victims. These lessons will be valuable for helping children calmly respond to possible fire and explosion incidents and minimize damages.

- Exhibition and Experience “Books and Childhood”

+ Exhibition and introduction of good books, encouraging children to love and read books.

+ Free reading space.

- Experience “Touching the World of Colors”

+ Where children are immersed in the vibrant colors of the art world to paint their destinations, conquer and explore new things.

+ Artistic experience on dinosaur eggs; exploring prehistoric footprints.

+ Street sketching.

+ Artistic experience “Colors We Love”.

+ Wood painting, assembling wood puzzles.

- Safe Driving Experience and Guidance

+ Traffic safety knowledge propaganda; guiding children on safe driving skills, practicing on simulation.

+ Organize mini-games revolving around the theme.

- Learning, Thinking, Creative, Assembly Games

+ Craft making; super memory challenges, mini-games with rewards; logical thinking with smart educational toys; mini-model assembly, Rubik’s cube solving guide…

- Children's Playground

+ Children can play with outdoor fitness equipment, trains, airplanes, bouncy houses…

+ Folk games: Mandarin square capturing, flag capturing, stick balancing, blindfolded goat catching, stilts, bamboo dancing, sack racing, hopscotch… attract children to participate, thus training them to be more agile, skillful, and active.

+ Organizing units: Vietnam Cultural and Artistic Exhibition Center, Anh Duong Art and Talent Development Center,

Time for guidance, experience, and interaction:

Happy moments, games, and activities with family and friends will be memorable for children.

Thus, it can be seen that depending on each region, locality, and funding conditions of the areas where children live, there will be various similar activities during this Mid-Autumn Festival for students across the country to have a meaningful holiday.

How many days off are students in Vietnam entitled to during the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2024?

Currently, there is no specific regulation on students getting days off for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Moreover, based on Article 112 of the Labor Code 2019:

Holidays and New Year’s Day

1. Employees shall be entitled to fully paid days off during the following public holidays:

a) Gregorian New Year: 01 day (January 1 of the Gregorian calendar);

b) Lunar New Year: 05 days;

c) Victory Day: 01 day (April 30 of the Gregorian calendar);

d) International Labor Day: 01 day (May 1 of the Gregorian calendar);

e) National Day: 02 days (September 2 of the Gregorian calendar and 01 adjacent day);

f) Hung Kings’ Commemoration Day: 01 day (March 10 of the lunar calendar).

2. Foreign employees working in Vietnam, in addition to the holidays mentioned in clause 1 of this Article, will be entitled to one traditional new year day and one national day of their respective countries.

3. Annually, based on the actual conditions, the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam decides the specific holiday mentioned in point b and point e, clause 1 of this Article.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is not among the holidays entitled to leave with pay, as students' vacations depend on teachers and school schedules according to the annual holiday regulations mentioned above.

Therefore, on Mid-Autumn Festival 2024, students will not have a day off, hence there will be no days off.

However, if the Mid-Autumn Festival annually falls on a weekend, students will have a day off.

As mentioned above, the Mid-Autumn Festival 2024 falls on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, which corresponds to August 15 in the lunar calendar; thus, students will have regular school days and can participate in fun activities in the evening after school.