City lantern street warms up ahead of Mid-Autumn Festival

A month ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Luong Nhu Hoc street in District 5 is lit up with a variety of festive merchandise. For many Vietnamese people, the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on September 10 this year, is the second most important festival after the Lunar New Year holiday.

city lantern street warms up ahead of mid-autumn festival picture 2

As the festival gives the chance for children to play with lanterns and traditional toys, each shop possesses its own type of lanterns with different decorations, all of which are handmade.

city lantern street warms up ahead of mid-autumn festival picture 3

Sau, a 55-year-old trader, shares that trading this year seems far busier these days, particularly as over the past two years her business has been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Everything now is over and trading has resumed as normal, she says.

city lantern street warms up ahead of mid-autumn festival picture 4

A girl chooses a paper lantern as her favourite toy for this year.

city lantern street warms up ahead of mid-autumn festival picture 5

Thousands of traditional and modern lanterns can be purchased along the famous street in the southern city.

city lantern street warms up ahead of mid-autumn festival picture 6

The price of lanterns ranges between VND35,000 and VND300,000 each for small sizes, and between VND650,000 and VND1.5 million each for large sizes.

city lantern street warms up ahead of mid-autumn festival picture 7

This year the prices are said to have risen by 30% to 40% compared to the previous year due to the increasing prices of materials and transportation fees, a trader says.