The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has listed the mid-autumn Full Moon Festival (on the 14^th day of the eighth lunar month) of Hoi An ancient town in central Quang Nam province as a National Intangible Heritage.

Lion dances during the annual middle autumn festival in Hoi An. The festival was listed as a national intangible heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. (Photo courtesy of Hoi An city's Centre for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation)

The Centre for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation of Hoi An city said the mid-autumn festival of Hoi An was one of 14 recognised by the ministry, and the official certificate will be handed over soon.

The centre said the festival this year will be held with a series of activities and cultural performances in the Old Quarter and on the Hoai River banks on September 29, promoting tourism recovery after the pandemic.

It’s a post-harvest festival during which people gather together in celebration of a bumper harvest by making cakes and offerings from farm produce, expressing thanks to Heaven for peace and abundant crops, according to the centre.

Lion and unicorn dances are a focus of the festival on the main stage in the Hoai River Square and along the streets of the Old Quarter.

The festival is decorated by lanterns in the Old Quarter and candle-lit paper flowers released on the Hoai River on the 14^th and 15^th day of the eighth lunar month. It’s also a favourite rendezvous for local people and foreign tourists visiting and exploring the culture and lifestyle of Hoi An.

The UNESCO-recognised world heritage site received the annual Nguyen Tieu Festival – the fifth national intangible heritage of Hoi An after Thanh Chau bird's nest, Thanh Ha Pottery village, carpentry of Kim Bong Village and Tra Que vegetable garden.

Source: VNA