Warmth and togetherness during the Mid-Autumn Festival in the countryside of Nghe An province.

The entire year is blessed with the full moon of the seventh lunar month.

On the morning of the full moon, Phan Cong Phuc (20 years old) from Nam Thanh commune (Yen Thanh district) and his mother woke up early to prepare chicken and sticky rice, meticulously preparing two sets of chicken and sticky rice: one set for ancestral worship and one set to carry to the church for worship.

Phuc said he is a second-year student at the University of Commerce (Hanoi). On the night of the 13th of the seventh lunar month, he hurriedly took a bus back to his hometown, excited to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with his family.

According to Mr. Phuc, he returns home for the full moon festival to represent his family in offering prayers to his ancestors and his father, both as a responsibility and to express his respect and gratitude to those who have passed away.

At his Phan family's ancestral temple, starting from the 13th day of the lunar month, descendants gather to clean the ritual objects, arrange the altar, and prepare offerings in the ancestral hall. On the night of the 14th and the day of the 15th, the descendants will continuously play ceremonial drums.

On the night of the 14th, the relatives will prepare sticky rice and chicken for the night offering. On the morning of the 15th, after offering sacrifices to the ancestors at the temple, he will return home to offer sacrifices to his family ancestors.

"I feel very happy that I was able to arrange the time to go back to my hometown for the Mid-Autumn Festival, to show my respect to my ancestors and my father," said Phuc.

For the people of Nghi Thiet commune (Nghi Loc district), a coastal village with a rich history and culture, many ancient relics and traditional customs are still preserved, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated with joy to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the commune's establishment.

Mr. Dau Van Thang, Secretary of the Nghi Thiet Commune Youth Union, shared that to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival (the 15th day of the 7th lunar month), according to custom, all clans mobilize their descendants to return to their ancestral temples on the 13th to clean and tidy the grounds, and hang the national flag and the festival flag. Starting from the afternoon of the 14th, all ancestral temples will simultaneously light incense.

In the celebratory atmosphere of the 70th anniversary of Nghi Thiet commune's establishment, the local authorities organized sports and cultural activities, encouraged people to clean village roads and alleys, and hung national flags in front of houses and along roadsides... making the full moon day even more vibrant and heartwarming.

For the people of Thanh Chuong district, the atmosphere of preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival and offering sacrifices on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month is as bustling as "Tet holiday".

The Tran Dinh clan is a large clan in Dong Van commune with two main ancestral temples: the elder brother's temple in Luan Phuong hamlet, headed by Mr. Tran Dinh Dai; and the younger brother's temple in Tien Quanh hamlet, headed by Mr. Tran Dinh Cung. Branches have spread from these two main temples. On the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, all Tran Dinh clan temples hold large celebrations, with descendants from all over returning home to offer prayers. From the 12th day onwards, clan leaders announce and request descendants to gather at the ancestral temples to clean, redecorate the ancestral hall, and visit the graves.

On the evening of the 14th, ceremonies are held at the ancestral temple and the temples of each branch of the family. On the 15th, for the full moon offering ceremony, each household must prepare at least two trays of offerings: one for the temple and one for the ancestors. Some households even prepare 3-4 trays. The offering for the temple is sticky rice with chicken, featuring various unique ways of preparing the chicken, such as lying down, standing up, or flying.

After the ancestral worship ceremony, depending on the branch of the family, they may organize a meal at the ancestral temple or disperse to individual homes. Most disperse to individual homes, while the ancestral temple is reserved for distant descendants who come to visit, where they can eat, drink, and socialize after the ceremony. The arrangement of welcoming and providing accommodation for distant descendants at the ancestral temple is a unique characteristic of this lineage.

Not only in Yen Thanh, Nghi Loc, Thanh Chuong… but also in many other rural areas of Nghe An such as Nam Dan, Do Luong, Hung Nguyen, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, Hoang Mai… people celebrate and eat the full moon festival with a lively, festive, and warm atmosphere.

The full moon of the seventh lunar month is associated with the Vu Lan Festival, a celebration of filial piety and gratitude towards parents and grandparents for their upbringing. It expresses appreciation for one's parents, remembers ancestors, and honors one's origins, representing a beautiful aspect of Vietnamese traditional culture.

Returning to our roots, spreading traditional values.

This year, the weather has been quite favorable for people in the province to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival (buying offerings, visiting ancestral graves, and making pilgrimages to temples). Before the festival, many children working far from home returned to their hometowns. Preparations for the festival in the localities are quite lively, especially shopping at local markets and decorating ancestral altars and family shrines. Some families have large gatherings of descendants visiting ancestral graves, resembling a festival.

Preparing food and offerings for ancestral worship at the family shrine is a matter of great concern for the clans. Nguyen Van Tuan from Nam Cat commune (Nam Dan district) shared: “To celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in the seventh lunar month, my clan entrusted me with organizing the shopping for chicken, sticky rice, incense, flowers, etc., to arrange the altar and prepare the offerings for our ancestors.”

The feast on the full moon day usually consists of steamed sticky rice and boiled chicken, or steamed sticky rice and boiled pork, so many families choose to buy pigs and chickens many days in advance. Some family groups also pool their resources to slaughter a pig to celebrate the full moon. Many clans stipulate that each family organizes its own separate ceremony, preparing their own feast. Each household prepares one feast, which they carry to the ancestral temple on the morning of the full moon to offer as a sacrifice.

Mr. Nguyen Van Huu from Xuan Lam commune (Hung Nguyen district) shared: "Every year on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, after preparing the feast, my children and I return to the ancestral temple in Hamlet 9, Xuan Lam commune, firstly to offer prayers and incense to our ancestors, and secondly so that the children can meet their relatives."

The full moon ceremony at ancestral temples is held solemnly with traditional rituals, such as offering incense, wine, and reciting prayers. The ceremonial group may wear casual clothes or traditional long robes and headscarves, with a chief officiant, chanting, and performing the rituals to the accompaniment of drums and gongs.

Amidst the swirling incense smoke and the resounding drumbeats, the ancestral worship ceremony at the clan's ancestral temple takes place in a solemn and sacred manner. The musical ensembles of the major clans often practice diligently to perform on the full moon day and to serve at the ancestral worship ceremony.

After the ancestral worship ceremony, clans often report to their ancestors the achievements that their descendants have accomplished. The education promotion committees of some clans have organized ceremonies to commend, award certificates of merit, and give gifts to encourage learning and talent among the clan's children.

The 15th day of the seventh lunar month is not only an important holiday honoring ancestors and lineage, a time for people to gather, socialize, exchange information about blood ties and family, inquire about health and business, and strengthen fraternal bonds, but also a space to honor the academic achievements, work, and contributions of descendants, and to encourage learning within families and clans.

During this time, many people who are far from home, working or studying abroad, cannot return to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with their families, and they feel a deep longing for their homeland and family.

Le Anh Huy, originally from Long Thanh commune (Yen Thanh district), currently working in South Korea, shared: “I've been away from home in South Korea for four years now. Every time the full moon of the seventh lunar month comes around, I feel an indescribable longing. I already miss home and my parents on ordinary days, but on the full moon, that longing intensifies, especially when I see my friends and family returning home for the festival and posting photos on social media.”

As the country and homeland are changing day by day, the way people in Nghe An organize and celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival seems to become more vibrant, warm, and meaningful.

Besides the innovations and changes in form to better suit modern lifestyles, the traditional rituals and humanistic spirit of the Mid-Autumn Festival in the seventh lunar month are still preserved, promoted, and spread in life today.