Green Mid-Autumn Festival

1. Since mid-September, the “Life Color” shop of Mr. Le Truc and his wife on Tran Cao Van Street has always been crowded with customers. Unlike other shops selling colorful plastic toys, this place displays dozens of lantern models made from pine wood, mixed wood and handmade paper.

Under Mr. Truc's skillful hands, small pieces of wood are polished and joined together to form a lamp frame, covered with Do paper and colored paper on the outside, creating a product that is both durable and environmentally friendly.

“The idea came from the concern about plastic waste during the Mid-Autumn Festival. We thought why not use leftover wood from the carpentry workshop to make lamps? It not only recycles the materials but also brings back memories of the old lamps,” Truc shared.

Having a talent for painting, most of the models sold at the store are designed and selected by Mr. Truc. The wooden lamps in the shape of jade rabbits, stars, crescent moons, carps, and lion heads maintain the traditional look while adding a bit of modern lines.

Some models are also combined with compact LED lights, creating a sparkling effect but not causing heat, safe for children. Many products are sold with a bottle of watercolors so that children can freely create their own "one-of-a-kind" lamp.

The sound of the cutting machine in Mr. Truc’s small workshop on the days before the full moon of August is as bustling as the sound of the lion drums in the street. The mixed wood lamps are not too expensive, unique and safe, so they quickly become popular in the market.

Some schools and businesses also place large orders to organize experiential activities to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival for children.

2. Along with the trend of returning to the traditional Mid-Autumn atmosphere, many groups of young people organize workshops on making lanterns and painting traditional masks. Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Tram, representative of Create Danang Art Space, said that this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, the restaurant has dedicated an area for children and parents to cut, paste, and paint star lanterns, hand fans, and papier-mâché masks. This is not the first time Create Danang Art Space has organized this festival because it has seen high demand from customers.

The workshop space is often decorated with rows of colorful lanterns, neat tables and chairs with full of craft paper, glue, paints, and markers. Children's faces are absorbed in drawing tigers, Ong Dia, and Cuoi on masks. Parents carefully guide their children to stick each star petal.

According to Ms. Tram, her team wants to create an experiential play space, thereby evoking memories of the "old moon season", connecting family members.

“Throughout the times we have organized the event, what makes us happiest is seeing parents and children gather around the table, chatting and painting. It seems that each finished product carries a small story of their own family,” Ms. Tram said emotionally.

3. In many residential areas, the movement of making traditional Mid-Autumn lanterns is also gradually spreading. Instead of giving out disposable plastic toys, many families encourage children to make their own lanterns and decorate the trays with fruits and traditional cakes.

Many parents also use recycled materials such as milk cans, plastic bottles, and boxes to make unique lanterns with their children. This atmosphere has made the full moon night in the neighborhoods warmer and more bustling.

The lion dance troupes passing by, the sound of drums mixed with the shimmering light of dozens of homemade lanterns, made everyone feel like they were reliving their childhood memories.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha, whose child is studying in grade 3 at Le Lai Primary School (Hai Chau Ward), said that the homeroom teacher's announcement that there would be a "Full Moon Festival" was an opportunity for the family to encourage their children to make their own Mid-Autumn lanterns. Instead of buying them, she and her child spent the whole evening making moon lanterns from peanut shells.

She said she learned this interesting method from social networks in recent days.

“At first, my child was clumsy and couldn’t stick it together properly, so he had to take it apart and stick it back together. But when he saw the result of his own work, he was very happy and kept asking to attach the LED lights to see. I think that joy is much more valuable than spending money to buy a plastic lamp,” Ms. Ha shared.

When the full moon covers the streets of Da Nang , choosing an economical and natural way to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival has become a new trend. Many shops also choose to decorate their check-in space with star lanterns and papier-mâché masks. Thanks to that, traditional handicraft values associated with the full moon festival are gradually being revived, penetrating every corner of the street.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/trung-thu-xanh-3305444.html