Nghe An: Bustling market of offerings for the full moon of January

People buy flowers to worship on the Full Moon Festival at Hung Dung market (Vinh city). Photo: Thanh Phuc

From early morning on February 4 (ie January 14 of the lunar calendar), the local markets in Vinh city were bustling with people shopping for offerings for the Full Moon Festival. Coinciding with the weekend, people had time to go to the market and prepare for the Full Moon Festival. Ms. Trinh Thi Bao (Hung Phuc ward, Vinh city) said: "In addition to buying roosters and sticky rice for the offerings, I also bought fruits to burn incense at the church. Therefore, I went to the market earlier this morning to choose the right offerings."

Fruit stalls in the markets are bustling with buyers. It is noted that at markets in Vinh city, traders import a variety of fruits in large quantities. Prices of goods have increased slightly compared to before Tet.

Fruit stalls are crowded with customers. The products are diverse and prices have increased compared to Tet. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Ms. Tam Hung, owner of a fruit stall at Hung Dung market, said: “Fruits are more diverse than during Tet but the prices are higher. Accordingly, fruit prices have increased by 5-10%; imported fruit prices have increased by 20-25% compared to before Tet. During the past two days (13th and 14th lunar month), many people have come to buy gifts, the amount of fruit sold has increased by 3-4 times compared to normal days.”

On the occasion of the Full Moon Festival this year, fruit shops have launched many fruit trays with different prices, ranging from 300,000 VND to 1.5 million VND/tray. The price of fruit trays for the Full Moon Festival depends on the types of fruits and fresh flowers used. If the fruit tray uses many high-quality imported fruits combined with fresh flowers, the price will be much more expensive than the price of a fruit tray using domestic fruits.

On the occasion of the full moon this year, fruit stores launched many fruit tray models with different prices. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Specifically, a tray of 1 pear, 2 red-fleshed dragon fruits, 2 imported apples, areca nuts, betel leaves, 3 chrysanthemums costs only 300,000 VND. A tray of offerings including 1 watermelon carved with artistic calligraphy, 3 bunches of green bananas, 1 Buddha's hand fruit, 7 oranges, 3 apples, 1 bunch of grapes combined with chrysanthemums, lilies, lotus flowers... costs up to 2-3 million VND.

The price of bananas for offerings has dropped significantly compared to before. Accordingly, bananas cost 20,000-40,000 VND/bunch; royal bananas cost 70,000-100,000 VND/bunch (the price is only 1/5 compared to Tet). Betel and areca nuts remain the same (12,000-15,000 VND/plate including 1 betel leaf, 1 areca nut); fresh flowers have cooled down, only 6,000-7,000 VND/chrysanthemum (down 3,000-5,000 VND/flower).

The price of bananas for offerings has dropped sharply compared to the Lunar New Year. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Equally exciting are the products for releasing animals such as fish, snails, crabs, eels, and loaches. Ms. Nguyen Thi Vinh, who sells fresh fish at Coi market (Hung Loc, Vinh city), said: “On the full moon of January, many people buy all kinds of live fish, eels, and small loaches to release animals. Currently, the price of small eels and loaches is about 70,000 - 100,000 VND/kg, snails are from 10,000 - 20,000 VND/kg; small snakehead fish is 60,000 VND/kg. During the three full moon days (from the 13th to the 15th lunar month), I sell 20-25kg of fish and eels to release animals of all kinds every day.”

Offering roosters and offering rooster making services are popular on the full moon day. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In rural markets, besides fruits, offering roosters are the best-selling items at this time. “In the countryside, the 15th day of the first lunar month is also the day to worship the ancestors of many families, so every family prepares offerings to go to church. Therefore, offering roosters with long tails, smooth feathers, red combs and weighing from 1.2-1.5 kg are very popular. The price of chickens has therefore increased compared to before, ranging from 120,000-145,000 VND/kg”. Along with that, the service of making offering roosters is also very attractive to customers, the price of making offering roosters is 25,000 VND/bird (an increase of 5,000 VND/bird compared to normal days).

As for vegetables, beef, and pork, prices are stable, even though purchasing power has increased compared to normal days.

Food prices are stable. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In addition, on the occasion of the Full Moon Festival in January, the vegetarian food service is very popular as people's demand is increasingly popular. Because many people believe that vegetarian dishes offered on the altar on the Full Moon Festival, holidays, and Tet make the worship more peaceful and gentle. Ms. Tran Oanh, owner of a vegetarian restaurant on Nguyen Sy Sach Street, said: "Since the opening ceremony, our restaurant has started accepting orders for vegetarian food trays for the Full Moon Festival in January. This year, the number of customers ordering vegetarian food is also about 20-30% more than last year, on January 15 alone, the order is up to 30 trays."

Accordingly, the price of vegetarian offerings ranges from 500,000 to 1.5 million VND depending on the portion and number of dishes. Restaurants will advise customers on choosing dishes and decorating dishes to suit their needs, then decorate, package and deliver to customers, the homeowner only needs to display them on the offering tray.

Vegetarian offerings are chosen by many people for the Full Moon festival. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Equally exciting, on the "online market", at this time many fanpages or Facebook account owners are also "offering" and "closing orders" for full moon offerings such as lotus seed sweet soup, green bean sweet soup, banh chung, fruit trays...

In addition to popular offerings, the full moon of January also has beautiful, highly aesthetic products such as lotus-shaped floating cakes, peach-shaped steamed buns with prices ranging from 65,000 - 115,000 VND/set, lotus cake models priced at 120,000 VND/box of 6 cakes, lotus flower pots made of jelly priced at 65,000 - 80,000 VND/product...