Hàng Mã Street is now colourful and vibrant with lanterns and Mid-Autumn toys. VNA/VNS Photos

 HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội's Mid-Autumn Festival 2026 season promises many exciting activities in different venues in the Old Quarters and Hoàn Kiếm Lake area.

The Hoàn Kiếm Ward People's Committee hosted the festival's opening ceremony at Đồng Xuân Market on September 11. The ceremony inaugurated a two-week-long celebration designed to offer locals and tourists immersive cultural experiences.

Vice chairwoman of the Hoàn Kiếm Ward People's Committee Nguyễn Hồng Trang said the Mid-Autumn Festival in Hoàn Kiếm lived on not merely in memories but within every street, home, heritage site, and aspect of community life.

It was found in Hàng Mã Street, radiant with lanterns and festive toys; in the bustling Đồng Xuân Market; in star-shaped lanterns, papier-mâché masks, lion dance heads, and revolving lanterns crafted by skilled artisans; and in the ancient houses, historical sites, and traditional craft streets that told the story of an elegant and sophisticated Hà Nội.

Trang added that maintaining the Old Quarter Mid-Autumn Festival demonstrated a commitment to preserving memories, passing down ancestral cultural values ​​to the younger generation, and ensuring the heritage remains a living part of contemporary life.

“Heritage truly endures only when it is preserved by the community, embraced by the younger generation, and continuously revitalised through creative expression in modern life,” she said.

Puppet performance is held at the heritage sites during the Mid-Autumn Festival season.

 The Autumn Festival market spans from the traditional Hàng Mã Mid-Autumn market and the main entrance of Đồng Xuân Market to pedestrian streets, the Old Quarter, Hoàn Kiếm Lake, and various cultural heritage sites in the area.

Residents and visitors can browse and purchase Mid-Autumn toys, traditional goods, mooncakes, and OCOP products, as well as participate in folk culture activities from September 11-25.

On this occasion, visitors can also immerse themselves in a cultural series entitled "Lưu Trăng Phố Cổ 2026" (Preserving the Old Quarter Moon 2026), a programme linking six heritage sites that brings traditional Mid-Autumn Festival culture closer to the public through experiential, hands-on, and creative activities.

Ngô Thị Thùy Dương, head of the Management Board of Hoàn Kiếm Lake and Hà Nội Old Quarter, said that the Mid-Autumn Festival was a cherished cultural tradition deeply rooted in wet-rice civilisation and the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people.

It was not merely a time to celebrate the harvest but also a season of reunion and family bonding, where families gathered under the full moon to enjoy tea and festive treats while sharing hopes for a peaceful and prosperous life.

Students learn how to make traditional Mid-Autumn toys

 Organising the cultural exchange series contributed to preserving and promoting intangible cultural heritage values, while affirming Hà Nội's status as a Creative City.

Visitors will begin their festival journey at the Old Quarter Cultural Exchange Centre, 50 Đào Duy Từ Street, where they are guided to return to the wet-rice agricultural culture, one of the foundations shaping the customs, festivals, and spiritual life of the Vietnamese people.

At the site, they will learn and practise the making of Mid-Autumn Festival lanterns, bamboo dragonflies and other traditional toys.

There will be fashion shows for children and a music performance with traditional instruments held at this venue.

At the Centre for Culture and Arts, No 22 Hàng Buồm Street, an exhibition, Lưu Trăng (Preserving the Moon), will introduce collections of traditional-style lanterns, lion heads and auspicious creatures.

Many workshops for making Mid-Autumn Festival toys will be organised to give visitors opportunities to create their own products to celebrate the moon.

A visitor takes photo of a lion dance and Chú Tễu – an iconic figure in the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration.

 Meanwhile, a discussion titled "Tales of the Moon – Tales of the Craft" will take place on September 20, offering the public an opportunity to gain deeper insight into the craft and the stories behind each product.

At the Heritage House at 87 Mã Mây Street, a Mid-Autumn Festival celebration by a traditional Hà Nội family under the theme "Welcoming the Moon" will be recreated evoking the atmosphere of family reunions, the preparation of festive offerings, and cherished memories of the holiday within a traditional home setting.

Also, workshops on crafting fruit-based animal figures will be held on September 13 while mooncake-making shows will take place from September 18 to 20.

At the Hồ Gươm Cultural Information Centre, No 2 Lê Thái Tổ Street, the traditional art of crafting lion dance heads will be showcased alongside works created by students.

Old traditional Mid-Autumn lantern designs are recreated at the event.

 The heritage site at 28 Hàng Buồm offers an experience titled Agarwood and the Ancient Moon telling the beauty of agarwood fragrance during the moonlit season of reunion.

At the heritage site No 40 Lãn Ông Street, organisers will popularise knowledge of tea and herbal teas along with tea culture. The traditional drink will be served with moon cakes and handmade toy making workshops.

The highlight will be the Moonlit Night procession, on September 25 within the pedestrian zone around Hoàn Kiếm Lake. The procession is to draw about 1,000 participants forming 15 artistic parade floats holding lanterns, lion dance heads, festival flags, and folk characters to create a vibrant Mid-Autumn procession atmosphere in the heart of the capital.

Painter Nguyễn Đức Bình, a representative of the organising committee, said the defining feature of the "Preserving the Old Quarter Moon 2026" programme was how seamlessly it brought diverse community members together.

Each cultural space shared a story of the Mid-Autumn Festival, each craft village displayed a unique tradition, each artisan shared their craft, and each youth served as a "cultural ambassador", carrying forward traditional values through a modern creative lens. — VNS