Pots of sticky rice cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival

The whole village makes banh chung (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes) as Mid-Autumn Festival gifts.

Over the past two days, despite occasional heavy rain, the atmosphere at the Phuc Loc hamlet cultural center in An Chau commune has been bustling with activity as people wrap banh chung (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes) as Mid-Autumn Festival gifts. Those with sticky rice contribute, those with meat contribute, those with onions contribute; some cut dong leaves and pick banana leaves, others contribute firewood, and those who know how to wrap the cakes pitch in. Each ingredient and effort is contributed to create these cakes as gifts for the children in the hamlet.

Ms. Trinh Thi Van, head of the Women's Association in Phuc Loc hamlet, said that in previous years, children in the hamlet were given store-bought candies and snacks. This year, the hamlet chose a different approach: making their own banh chung (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes).

"Wrapping over 500 mooncakes is quite a lot of work compared to buying ready-made ones. However, wrapping mooncakes has a lot of meaning; it evokes the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival of the past and fosters a sense of community and solidarity," Ms. Van shared.

Following the Women's Association's call, the villagers responded in various ways: some contributed money, others sticky rice and ingredients, and some contributed labor. The hamlet raised 6 million dong in cash, 100 kg of sticky rice, and materials, completing 506 cakes. On the afternoon of September 25th, these cakes will be brought to the community center to be given to the children during the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration.

In the days leading up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, in many residential areas throughout the province, the village cultural center becomes a gathering place for people to prepare sticky rice cakes (bánh chưng) for children. In Xuan Lam commune, people take advantage of the time after work, sometimes late at noon or in the evening, to return to the village cultural center to make cakes together. Sticky rice, mung beans, meat, and banana leaves are gathered; some wash the leaves, some rinse the rice and beans, some prepare the filling, some skillfully wrap the cakes, and others take care of the cooking.

Commune officials, village officials, elderly people, women's association members, youth union members, and a large number of residents participated. In Ngoc Son village, about 150 officials, party members, and residents participated in wrapping the cakes; Tan Phong prepared 600 cakes, Van Giai over 600, and Thanh Khai over 700 to give to teenagers and children in the village.

Not only in residential areas, but also officials, civil servants, and workers at the Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, Fatherland Front, and political and social organizations of Xuan Lam commune took advantage of their days off to personally wrap green sticky rice cakes as gifts for their children during the Mid-Autumn Festival. From villages to offices, these cakes, prepared with the time and effort of adults, were given to children during the moon festival.

Preserving Mid-Autumn Festival traditions

For many people from the 70s and 80s generations in rural areas of Nghe An province, mentioning the Mid-Autumn Festival brings to mind the baskets of green sticky rice cakes prepared by their mothers and grandmothers and distributed to children in the neighborhood. It was a simple gift from the Mid-Autumn Festivals of a time of hardship, along with the nights spent watching over the pots of cakes by the fire, deeply etched in the childhood memories of many. Perhaps that's why, when preparing Mid-Autumn Festival gifts for children this year, many communities have chosen that familiar cake.

Sticky rice cakes (Bánh chưng) are not an expensive gift, nor are they the only treats children look forward to as life becomes more prosperous. But for those who grew up with the pot of sticky rice cakes on the full moon day, the cake still carries a part of their memories that store-bought gifts can hardly replace.

Mr. Nguyen Luan, a resident of Thanh Khai hamlet, Xuan Lam commune, believes that although children today are not as deprived as previous generations, the tradition of wrapping green sticky rice cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival remains "a beautiful cultural feature of the Nghe An countryside that needs to be preserved."

For children, the sticky rice cake (bánh chưng) on ​​Mid-Autumn Festival night also brings a different experience. They get to see adults washing the leaves, rinsing the rice, preparing the filling, wrapping the cakes, and then waiting together for the cakes to cook over the fire. Therefore, the gift is not just about the cake itself, but also about the story behind it.

These images are also easily memorable for those living far from home. Through the images of steaming pots of mooncakes and Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations shared on social media, those working far from home can see familiar scenes of their villages and remember past Mid-Autumn Festivals. Some send small gifts, contribute funds or ingredients, or simply inquire about the preparations for the festival back home. Thus, the Mid-Autumn Festival can still connect those far away with their hometowns through very concrete actions.

According to Mr. Le Dinh Thanh, Secretary of the Party Committee of Xuan Lam commune, the valuable aspect of this activity lies not only in the cakes given to the children but also in the participation and sharing of the community. "Mid-Autumn Festival cakes can be bought very conveniently these days, but cakes made by the people themselves and given directly to the children still create a special atmosphere," Mr. Le Dinh Thanh said.

Then the cakes will be given away on the night of the full moon, and everyone will return to their daily lives. But the gatherings at the village cultural center, the pots of cakes simmering over the fire, and the memories of a Mid-Autumn Festival with green sticky rice cakes will be remembered forever.