A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic

(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.

A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 1Hang Ma street is alight in vivid colors as decorative items were hung everywhere for the Mid-Autumn festival in 2020. (Photo: Le Chi/VOV5)

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. 

A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 2Toy shops are closed. (Photo: tienphong.vn) 
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 3Hang Ma street is quiet as the city battles against the coronavirus. (Photo: laodong.vn)

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.

A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 4The 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.
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 5The “Mid-Autumn Festival Reunion” exhibition is held online at hoangthanhthanglong.vn and trungbayonline.hoangthanhthanglong.vn. (Photo: The Thang Long-Hanoi Heritage Conservation Centre)

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.

A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 6Nguyen Thu Ha of Nam Tu Lien district, Hanoi, buys ingredients online to make moon cakes. (Photo: Thu Ha/VOV) 
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 7Snow skin moon cakes made by Ms. Ha (Photo: Thu Ha/VOV)
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 810-year-old To Minh Duc is making his first-ever moon cake. (Photo: Thu Ha/VOV)
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 9Here comes a cute bear cake. (Photo: Thu Ha/VOV) 
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 10Do Thi Tuoi of Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi, enjoys making moon cakes at home with her grandsons. (Photo: VOV5) 
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 11Tuoi 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)
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 12A fruit tray is an essential part of the Mid-Autumn feast. (Photo: VOV)
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 13The pandemic can’t dampen children’s excitement for the Mid-autumn Festival. (Photo: VOV5)

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. 

A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 14The 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.   
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 1550 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. 
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 1611-year-old Khong Trung Nguyen joins his sisters making moon cakes for frontline medics and patients at COVID-19 rehab centers in Ho Chi Minh city. (Photo: Quang Chau/VNA)
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 17Thousands of moon cakes have been sent to them with a message of staying positive. (Photo: Quang Chau/VNA) 
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 18Freshly baked moon cakes are boxed for delivery to the Field Hospital No 11. (Photo: Quang Chau/VNA) 
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 19Moon cakes are handed out to child patients, who are receiving treatment at Children's Hospital 2 in Ho Chi Minh city. (Photo: Quang Chau/VNA)

The Youth Social Work Centre has recently launched a charity campaign to raise 5,000 Mid-Autumn Festival gifts for children in Ho Chi Minh city who are affected by the pandemic.

A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 20At a ceremony to launch a charity program by the Youth Social Work Centre (Photo: Le Hang/VOV)
A Mid-Autumn Festival of love and sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - ảnh 21The Youth Social Work Centre presents gifts to children (Photo: Le Hang/VOV) 
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