2027 Tết Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn)

Tết Trung Thu, Vietnam's Mid-Autumn Festival, falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, usually in September or early October, and is above all a festival for children. In the weeks beforehand, Hanoi's Hàng Mã street becomes a market of lanterns, masks and toys, and on the night itself children parade with star-shaped and carp-shaped lanterns while lion dance troupes perform to the beat of drums in streets and courtyards. Families set out a tray of mooncakes, both the baked bánh nướng and the soft, sticky bánh dẻo, along with fruit, and admire the full moon while telling the legend of Chú Cuội and the banyan tree on the moon. Mooncakes are also given as gifts to relatives, teachers and business partners from early in the lunar month. It is not a public holiday, so most activities take place in the evening, and lantern processions in Hội An and Tuyên Quang draw visitors. This countdown ticks to midnight Hanoi time on the Mid-Autumn Festival.