'Hot' job to earn millions every night during Mid-Autumn Festival

This year's Mid-Autumn Festival, people's demand increased many times compared to previous years. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Since the middle of the seventh lunar month, Mr. Ho Quang Chinh (Nguyen Cong Tru Street, Vinh City) has started receiving calls to make appointments.Lion dance for Mid-Autumn Festival. Having been providing lion and dragon dance services for nearly 20 years, according to Mr. Chinh, this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, people's demand has increased many times compared to previous years. His 4 lion dance teams are all fully booked from the 2nd of August until the end of the 15th night. There are peak days (from after the 10th to the 15th of August of the lunar calendar, there are up to 13-15 shows/day).

“We have to decline some, we cannot accept all of them, we do not have enough strength and time to run the show. For units in the districts, we only accept performances from the 2nd to the 10th, we cannot keep up with the dates. Two years ago, due to the pandemic, the Mid-Autumn Festival was not held, this year, everything has returned to normal, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated quite vigorously and almost every unit invites a lion dance team to serve the children.”

Mr. Ho Quang Chinh fixes props for Mid-Autumn Festival performances. Photo: Thanh Phuc

These days, the lion dance teams of Mr. Ho Manh Hung (Truong Thi Ward, Vinh City) are also racing against time to serve agencies and units organizing Mid-Autumn Festival for children. More than 20 members of the team have been practicing intensively for the past 2 months, adding new dances and difficult movements to create excitement and uniqueness for the audience; in addition, he also invested in more costumes and props to serve the 2022 moon festival.

Before each full moon season, the lion dance teams practice hard. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Ho Manh Hung said: “This year, the demand for lion dances on the occasion of Mid-Autumn Festival has increased 3-4 times compared to previous years. Prices also fluctuate slightly, accordingly, each lion dance show lasting from 10-20 minutes costs about 3-5 million VND, depending on customer requirements.

For example, a lion dance performance consisting of 2 lions, 2 drums, 1 earth god, and 1 cymbal costs from 2 to 4 million VND, or a performance of 3 lions, 2 drums, 1 earth god, and 1 cymbal costs 6 million VND...".

Each lion dance show lasts from 10-20 minutes and costs about 3-5 million VND, depending on the customer's request and the difficulty of the movements... Photo: Thanh Phuc

The closer to the Mid-Autumn Festival, the more exciting the lion dance teams are. In particular, on the 14th and 15th nights of the 8th lunar month, it was noted that the teams' booking schedules were full and they could not accept more guests. "From the National Day holiday to the Mid-Autumn Festival, our performance schedule is very tight. Most of the performances are in residential areas and public places. Each night, a team earns about 7-10 million VND," added Mr. Ho Quang Chinh.

Nowadays, in addition to festivals, at many events such as:New school year opening, store openings, groundbreakings, construction inaugurations, housewarmings, weddings, birthdays, family ancestor worship… all have the need for lion dances to create excitement and attraction. Therefore, the lion dance profession is increasingly "having a place" to do business, becoming a livelihood for many people, attracting a lot of young people to participate.

The lion dance profession is becoming more and more popular, becoming a way of life for many people, attracting a large number of young people to participate. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Tran Hung Huy (Cua Nam ward, Vinh city) said: “I have been in the lion dance team for 2 years now, at first I was just a sidekick, following the group because of my passion for the excitement. But since the beginning of the year, when I became the main dancer, each time I perform a show with the group, I earn 200,000 VND, there are months when I dance at 20-30 events, earning about 3-4 million VND. This is not my main job but it gives me a fairly high income.”

Due to the increasing demand, in recent years, many professional and amateur lion dance teams have been established in Vinh city, operating freely or through companies and event organizers. Therefore, the competition between lion dance teams is more fierce than before.

The development of the lion dance profession also creates conditions for the rental service of costumes, props, lion and dragon heads... to "bloom". If in the past, lion dance teams had to order lion heads, dragons, masks, shoes, sandals... from Hue or Ho Chi Minh City at expensive prices, now, around Vinh market, there have been places selling and renting lion dance costumes and props.

Costume and prop rental services for lion and dragon dances are also growing strongly. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Ms. Tran Thi Phuong Oanh, owner of a dragon and lion costume rental facility in Vinh market, said: "If you invest in full costumes and props for a 5-7-person lion dance team, it will cost about 20-25 million VND. For professional teams, the investment is worth it, but if the teams are spontaneous and only perform during the Mid-Autumn Festival, renting is always the optimal choice. Since the beginning of August, we have had quite a lot of requests to rent dragon and lion costumes and props, especially from communes and districts...".