A century back to Hanoi’s lantern festival

By Ngoc Thanh   October 2, 2017 | 08:29 pm PT
An exhibition has revived the old spirit as Vietnam counts down to the full moon on Wednesday night.
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Lanterns for sale on Hang Gai Street during the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1926. The festival peaks on the full moon of the eighth lunar month, which falls on Wednesday this week.

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Children are drawn to a fish lantern outside a shop on Hang Gai in the Old Quarter.

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Star-shaped lanterns, the most popular toy during the festival, are made on the sidewalk.

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A wooden fighting roosters toy in a photo captured in 1937.

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Animals made from rice flour were popular in Hanoi nearly a century ago. These toys are still on sale in Vietnamese cities, but they now appeal more to nostalgic adults.

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A lion dance troupe prepares for their performance on Hang Thiec Street.

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Women make mooncakes on Hang Duong Street, known as the city’s sweets street, in a photo in 1928.

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A family offers a festival feast on their altar.

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A crab lantern.

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The Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences is displaying the photos at the Hanoi Ancient House, 87 Ma May, Hoan Kiem District.

 
 
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