A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic
Le Chi & Duc Anh -
(VOVWORLD) - This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival is special in a way that nobody wants as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mid-Autumn Festival in 2021 falls on Tuesday, September 21. Cozy, hectic celebrations were observed previous years. But this year, the festival celebration is taking place amid social distancing in many localities nationwide.
 Hang Ma street is alight in vivid colors as decorative items were hung everywhere for the Mid-Autumn festival in 2020. (Photo: Le Chi/VOV5)
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Hang Ma street is a kingdom of toys and decorative items in Hanoi. Its hectic scene is absent this year as all shops are shutdown per the Prime Minister’s Directive 16.
 Toy shops are closed. (Photo: tienphong.vn) |
 Hang Ma street is quiet as the city battles against the coronavirus. (Photo: laodong.vn)
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Roughly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual events have come to the rescue when public gathering has been mostly banned. The Thang Long-Hanoi Heritage Conservation Centre is holding a virtual exhibition on the 2021 Mid-Autumn Festival starting Sunday, September 19, showcasing the core values of the celebration, part of which is family reunion.
 The exhibition features images, paintings, writings and videos about the Mid-Autumn Festival by various artists and cultural experts, who explore different traditions of a typical Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam, especially the Mid-Autumn feast of the Hanoi people in the early 20th century.
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 The “Mid-Autumn Festival Reunion” exhibition is held online at hoangthanhthanglong.vn and trungbayonline.hoangthanhthanglong.vn. (Photo: The Thang Long-Hanoi Heritage Conservation Centre)
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Parents have prepared ingredients to make moon cakes with their children to cater to their craving for the Mid-Autumn delicacy while having fun together at home during social distancing.
 Nguyen Thu Ha of Nam Tu Lien district, Hanoi, buys ingredients online to make moon cakes. (Photo: Thu Ha/VOV) |
 Snow skin moon cakes made by Ms. Ha (Photo: Thu Ha/VOV)
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 10-year-old To Minh Duc is making his first-ever moon cake. (Photo: Thu Ha/VOV) |
 Here comes a cute bear cake. (Photo: Thu Ha/VOV) |
 Do Thi Tuoi of Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi, enjoys making moon cakes at home with her grandsons. (Photo: VOV5) |
 Tuoi lives in a red zone - deemed a high risk location – so she couldn’t buy enough ingredients to make moon cakes. But that’s how she discovered her new, creative take on the traditional recipe. Tuoi made the crust out of purple sweet potato and used green beans and coconut milk as the filling. (Photo: VOV)
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 A fruit tray is an essential part of the Mid-Autumn feast. (Photo: VOV)
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 The pandemic can’t dampen children’s excitement for the Mid-autumn Festival. (Photo: VOV5)
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Hong Nhung, who lives on Hang Cot street, Hanoi, makes traditional moon cakes for families in social distancing areas as a way to show her empathy for those affected by the pandemic.
 The family has a hand-written recipe by her grandmother years ago when she worked at the Hanoi Confectionery Joint Stock Company. Every step in the process, from preparing ingredients to making the paste for moon cake filling, shaping, baking, and packaging, is done by Nhung’s family members themselves. |
 50 moon cakes are made in a single day by Nhung’s family members and delivered to sealed-off areas in Ba Dinh and Dong Da district together with some food and other daily necessities. |
Meanwhile, in Ho Chi Minh city- Vietnam's current COVID-19 epicenter, the moon cake fragrance prevails in the kitchen of Pham Thi Hanh Dung, who lives in an apartment building on Nguyen Van Cong street, Tan Phu district.
Le Chi & Duc Anh