Mid-Autumn Full Moon Festival - September 16, 2008

Mid-Autumn Full Moon Festival - September 16, 2008

One of the things that I love about living here for a year is seeing the different festivals. We have just had the Mid-Autumn Full Moon Festival. It is a bit like Christmas and Halloween rolled in together for the children and young people. Apparently it is thousands of years old and occurs at this time of year after the harvests were traditionally completed. It was a time for parents, who had been busy in the fields, to spend time with their children and to give them presents and moon-cakes.

In the days leading up to the festival the excitement on the streets was palatable. In my last blog I wrote about the show that some young people in a commune put on for us. In the following days I got to see many teams practicing as well as those who decided to get started early on the festivities. On Saturday and Sunday nights we, and almost everyone else in the city, went out into the city streets to watch the action. Dozens and dozens of teams of performers were in action. Each team has a group on a cyclo or trolley playing a large drum. The troupe usually included a “lion” or “unicorn” played by two people, a “monkey”, two “clown-like” characters and sometimes a “pig”. There is also a large group of youths responsible for holding up the bamboo ladders or poles. Some of these are like staircases but many are just tall poles with rungs lashed to them.

Wending their way through the crowded streets the groups go to shops and homes where they are invited inside to dance. The dances are very expressive and comical. Entertained, and with good luck bought upon them, the homeowners or shopkeepers then suspend packets of money from the second or third floor balcony. The ladder or pole is erected outside the premises and while it is held in place with ropes it is climbed firstly by the monkey and the ‘clowns’. After they have performed all sorts of tricks the lion or unicorn climbs to the top and performs a wild dance before seizing the money in its jaws. When it has done this successfully handfuls of glitter or tiny pieces of paper are sprayed across the crowd from its mouth. The costume is then lowered down to the eagerly waiting arms of others in the team who quickly don it then the troupe (and the crowd) moves on to perform at the next house. Apparently there are sometimes awful accidents and people are killed falling from the tall poles but fortunately I did not see any problems.

It was a joy to see that encouragement and support given to the young people by their community. Many of the shopkeepers and homeowners repeatedly went through the ritual and the people in the crowds watched enthusiastically for a long time. The crowds are incredible. People on bicycles and motorbikes were traveling in every direction as they moved from group to group so many of the streets were close to gridlock but I never saw anyone get angry of unpleasant. In good heart they jostled and threaded their way along the roads and footpaths. The only downside was the exhaust fumes which became overpowering at times.

Sometimes, as the only foreigner around, I was targeted for cash by the members of the teams. They would come dancing up to me calling out “money”. Since the Vietnamese people in the crowds were not paying I decided not to either and responded instead by dancing with them. This caused a huge amount of hilarity particularly when I danced with a couple of (probably) gay young men who were dressed in cut-away cowboy shirts and blowing whistles while “riding” paper mache horses. At other times, spotting my camera, teams wanted me to take photos and dragged me into the centre so I could get good shots. If you can’ beat them, join them!

Apparently this is not such a big event in some parts of Viet Nam but it is an important occasion in Quy Nhon. It has been great being here at this time.