1. Describe a festival in your country.
You should say:
- What it is
- When it is celebrated
- What people do in the festival
One of the most popular festivals in Vietnam is children’s Mid-autumn festival. Held throughout the country, on lunar August 15th, the festival originated (bắt nguồn từ) thousands of years ago.
It is celebrated mainly for children when the moon is full in lunar August. (tháng 8 âm lịch)
On this occasion, children aged 12 or under get cakes and confectionery (kẹo) from local authorities as presents for their holiday. This custom may be set by Ho Chi Minh, our first beloved President. This practice shows great concern (quan tâm) we have for young generations. On the night of the festival, many activities are organised for children. They get into groups and with lanterns (lồng đèn) of all kinds and shapes sparking (lấp lánh sáng) in their hands, they light up the dark streets in every corner of the country. The festival not only attracts children but also involves adults to help children make their own lanterns with all kinds of shapes ranging from stars to fish, tanks, and even aircrafts. There are also stage performance retelling the story of the Goddess of the moon, and the man who watches the banyan tree (cây đa) on the moon. This is also a reminder of childhood for the adults.
In recent years, there has been a shift to make the festival an occasion for people to show their filial piety (lòng hiếu thảo) to their parents, and grand-parents or respect for anyone they care about in life. It is also the time for employees to pay tribute to (đền ơn) their bosses when they offer them some gifts for the festival.
2. Why is the festival popular?
The festival becomes more and more popular because it involves not only children but the whole society as well when people gradually add into it more meaning. In fact, the festival is also an opportunity for children to show their gratitude (sự biết ơn) and love to their old parents or company staff’s regard to their managers. Now it is a social festival for all ages in Vietnam.
3. Why is the festival important in Vietnamese culture?
The festival is a great time for children to play games and exchange with their friends, through which sweet memory of a formative time (giai đoạn hình thành tính cách) is nicely imprinted. As time goes by, much alteration occurs but the festival is still embraced (ôm ấp, trân trọng) in everyone’s mind as a series of unforgettable pleasure and joy.
In the spiritual life, (đời sống tinh thần) the festival is attached to every Vietnamese since their childhood with festive atmosphere (không khí lễ hội) and family gatherings. On the other hand, it’s a booming season for bakeries to sell moon cakes at high prices as presents for people to give each other. For those reasons, the festival is now considered an important part of Vietnamese custom. (phong tục)
