The “Mid-Autumn Festival 2009: Vietnamese-Japanese Colours” opened at Vietnam’s Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi on Sept. 25.

The event, jointly organised by the Museum of Ethnology, the Kyushu National Museum from Japan, the Japanese Embassy and the Japanese Foundation for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, will lay on a range of entertainments for Vietnamese children during the Mid-Autumn festival this year.

The event is expected to give Vietnamese families and children a real meaningful festival and a deeper understanding of Japanese culture, especially its Mid-Autumn festival.

Children at the event will have the chance to participate in various Vietnamese and Japanese games such as hopscotch, the tug of war, stilt walking, rope jumping and ‘catch the child’ as well as singing and dancing.

Those taking part will also have the opportunity to learn how to make Japanese traditional fun-fans under the guidance of Japanese craftsmen as well as Vietnamese and Japanese traditional cuisine, including Moon cakes, an indispensable speciality of the Mid-Autumn festival.

Visitors can also enjoy tea served by tea masters from Urasenke .
Performances of dragon dances, water puppetry and shows of Vietnamese and Japanese traditional costumes will also take place.

The events will take place over three days with September 25 especially organised for disadvantaged children.

An exhibition and education programme for families and children on the Mid-Autumn Festival and children’s days in Japan will also be held and last until November 1.

On the occasion, the military-run corporation Viettel will hand over 100 gifts to disadvantaged children from a number of children’s villages and schools./.