Hanoi (VNA) - The return of traditional toys for Mid-Autumn Festival has helped revive many craft villages. In recent days, the bustling atmosphere is everywhere in Ong Hao Village, Lieu Xa Commune, Yen My District in the northern province of Hung Yen, as locals prepare handmade toys for the event.
In recent years, Vietnamese and foreign visitors tend to choose traditional products due to their variety in models, showing the strong traditional identity, with materials being friendly to the environment such as bamboo and rattan. Particularly, children’s toys like masks, animals and lion heads are made of paper with glue made of cassava starch and safe paint, making it totally safe for the users. Particularly, each toy is unique as it is made by hand. Each brushstroke carries the creativity, enthusiasm and love of the artisan. On average, each artisan in Ong Hao craft village can make about 80 masks per day. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Vu Huy Dong, an experienced artisan in Ong Hao traditional craft village in Lieu Xa commune, Yen My district of Hung Yen province, said: “I have done this job for up to 30 years. Our products are mainly drums and other toys. In recent years, many other people have left this job, but my family and I still strive to maintain this traditional craft. Our passion for the job has become an inseparable part of our life.” To make a drum, craftspeople have to buy cow and buffalo skin from other localities, then process the material before putting into use. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
The production of toys for the Full Moon Festival (the 15th day of the eighth lunar month) takes place around the year. The products will then be gathered in the beginning of the eighth lunar month – days before the festival comes, so that they will be ready to be provided to the market. Each day, Dong’s family often hires workers from other local families to process the shaping and drying the products. But the drawing stage and completion of the products will be directly done by Dong and his wife, according to the veteran artisan. The work requires special skills and experience. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Compared to two or three years ago when traditional toys for the Full Moon Festival faced the risk of fading, today the craft has recovered its position. Due to higher demands of the market, more and more villagers in the Ong Hao craft village have returned to the craft. The products they provide to the market have also become more diverse. Entering the village at this time, through the gate of Ong Hao village, visitors can feel the bustling atmosphere with the sound of carving, drums and laughter. The vitality of the traditional craft village exists along each lane. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Mr. Linh, a drum maker in Ong Hao craft village, said: “I have done this job for more than 20 years. The craft is not hard with those who love it. In contrary, for those who have no passion for it, they will find the craft boring and tend to quit the job. In order to make a drum, we have to choose good wood from jackfruit trees. Each day, I can process at least several dozens of pieces.” Besides the traditional masks, the villagers of Ong Hao village can make more than 20 different types of paper masks, with different sizes depending on the preferences of their little customers. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Currently, the craft of making traditional toys in Ong Hao craft village has been maintained by few local households, mostly by artisans aged from 50. Visitors to the village will have chances to make their own colourful toys under the instruction of the artisans. Without heirloom secrets, guests can participate in the process of making paper masks under the guidance of skilled craftsmen. The most interesting is the step of paper backing and mask painting or the step of covering the drumhead; while the trickiest step is making unicorn hair. The steps are usually supervised and controlled by experienced artisans. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Before machines are used in the craft, all stages were performed manually, which is time consuming. Today, the job has been supported by cutting machines, which helps save materials and time, resulting in a higher productivity. The toys for Mid-Autumn Festival in Ong Hao village are made from natural materials. Bamboo is used to make the “keo quan” (a traditional hand-made lantern with vivid rotating paper-cut figures on the cover), while wood and buffalo skin are used to make drums. Meanwhile, scrap paperboard and paper are "enchanted" to become the paper masks. Even the glue used for paper backing is made from cassava starch, making it user-friendly. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
A simple drum requires various stages like sawing wood, making the frame, painting on wood and stretching the buffalo skin on the head. The drum’s faces are covered with buffalo skin while the body is made of wood. Villager Doc said making drum requires good skills and if the frame is not round, the buffalo skin will not stretch properly on the drumhead and the sound will not echo well. Despite fierce competition from modern toys, artisans in the village still believe in their traditional craft. “While children are still excited for the Mid-Autumn Festival, we will still produce toys for them,” Doc said. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
In Ong Hao craft village, each product manifests the passion and enthusiasm of the artisans. Customers’ tastes have changed a lot and more and more plastic and metal toys from China have flooded the domestic market. Those still in the profession have found ways to adapt to the market by using new techniques to made toys. In the past 10 years, various models of masks and lion heads made of carton and paper have been produced with greater care in terms of colours, lines and additional accessories. Lion heads have had white artificial fur added to them. The colourful masks depict various figures like Chi Pheo, Thi No in Vietnamese literature, or Chinese Monkey King and Pigsy. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
In Ong Hao craft village, each product manifests the passion and enthusiasm of the artisans. Customers’ tastes have changed a lot and more and more plastic and metal toys from China have flooded the domestic market. Those still in the profession have found ways to adapt to the market by using new techniques to made toys. In the past 10 years, various models of masks and lion heads made of carton and paper have been produced with greater care in terms of colours, lines and additional accessories. Lion heads have had white artificial fur added to them. The colourful masks depict various figures like Chi Pheo, Thi No in Vietnamese literature, or Chinese Monkey King and Pigsy. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
The folk toys have made their own position in the traditional culture of the nation. Amidst the current period of integration, craftsmen from Ong Hao village have day by day contributed to maintaining the national traditional identity, while transferring it to the younger generations. Hearing the thumping drum sound, holding hand masks that are dried up, or finding seasonal fruits in the village's market, everyone feels that the Mid-Autumn Festival is coming very close. Childhood memories from the Mid-Autumn Festival night come rushing back. That atmosphere explains why Ong Hao village has become a destination to early welcome the Mid-Autumn Festival in the country. (Photo: VietnamPlus)
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