HCM CITY— Dozens of art troupes in HCM City are presenting special programmes to celebrate Vu Lan, the Buddhist festival held during the seventh lunar month every year, which shows gratitude to motherly love.  

Several concerts over the coming days will highlight the sacrifices mothers make for their children to enjoy a secure future.

At the Suối Tiên Tourist Park in District 9,  pop singers Thủy Tiên and Đông Nhi will participate in Vu Lan Báo Hiếu (Showing Gratitude to Mothers on Vu Lan), a music gala to raise funds to help poor women.

Cải lương (reformed theatre) stars Tú Sương and Minh Lâm will stage extracts from popular plays including Bông Hồng Cài Áo (The Rose on the Shirt) and Tình Mẹ (Mother and Child), all works based on traditional legends about mothers.

“We will stage plays on women and maternal love during the Vu Lan season because it is the time for people, especially youth, to look back and remember their mother’s love and sacrifices,” said Hồng Vân, owner of the Hồng Vân Drama Club and Phú Nhuận Stage.

"We’re not looking to make a profit from these shows. We hope to encourage young people to love and respect their mothers much more,” she said.

The Women Cultural House’s cultural activities and shows will begin this week and continue until the end of the month.

Highlighted events will include a painting exhibition by female artists and talks by mothers and children, who live with difficulties but have overcome them.

Vegetarian restaurants more popular

Vegetarian restaurants have offered special menus to satisfy the increasing number of diners who want to eat such meals during Vu Lan month. 

Small restaurants offers 15 different dishes for only VNĐ22,000 (US$1)- 25,000 ($1.2) per dish. 

Many vegetarian pavement stalls offer hủ tiếu khô (fried noodles with mushroom, tofu, carrot and white cabbage used with soy sauce), a popular favourite dish for people who want fast food.

“A vegetarian fried noodle dish for only VNĐ10,000 ($0.45) is my bestseller for breakfast,” said Huỳnh Thị Vân, a vendor who sells vegetarian food at Trương Minh Giảng Market in District 3.

Her mobile stall has several options, including bì chay (rolls with vermicelli and shredded crispy mock pork) and gỏi cuốn (spring rolls with vermicelli and mock shrimp), priced between VNĐ10,000 and VNĐ15,000 ($0.6).

“More than half of my customers are young people,” she said.

Luxury restaurants and hotels brought their own style with a vegetarian buffet every weekend and the 15^th day of this month.

The menu displays 35-40 dishes at between VNĐ300,000 ($15) and VNĐ700,000 ($33) per person.

To meet increasing demands for vegetarian meals during the festival, supermarkets have offered more than 200 products of vegetarian food.

“It has been easy for me to find vegetarian products in supermarkets this month,” said Trần Đại Phú, a resident of Tân Bình District.

All of Phú’s family members eat vegetarian food as a family tradition during lunar July. “We eat vegetarian food for both religious and health reasons.”—VNS