VietNamNet Bridge – A parade of 400 artists and children will light up the streets of the capital city on Saturday evening in celebration of the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival.

The parade for the full-moon festival of the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which falls on September 7 this year, will begin at the Vietnamese Culture and Arts Exhibition Centre on 2 Hoa Lu Street and march through several neighbouring thoroughfares.

A troupe of five circus jugglers performing on unicycles will lead the parade, followed by dancers, singers and martial arts performers. The masked and costumed dancers will perform the movements of the kylin and dragon while other participants will carry star-shaped lanterns, mooncakes and trays containing five fruits, the traditional items of a mid-autumn party.

An estimated 60 troupes from the capital city and 30 others from neighbouring areas will join the festival, marking the first time such a large number of kylin-dragon dance troupes will take part.

The celebration at the Exhibition Centre will be highlighted by an exhibit of installation respecting education and the traditional fondness for learning.

Artwork that makes use of materials such as bamboo, paper, masks and lanterns will be used to tell children tales of exemplary studious people in the old days.

Considered as the year's biggest festival for children, the event focuses on educational activities and games for children.

Throughout the celebration, children are given the opportunity to have fun and learn more about the festival's meaning.

Other interesting programmes celebrating the festival will be organised at the Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology. During the festival, local artisans will also make special performances and introduce folk songs and dances.

Carrying the theme "I Love the Country's Seas and Islands", this year's festival will also offer children a chance to join contests on the subject and paint and make toys using products from the sea.

Like previous festivals held at the museum, children can learn to make traditional toys and mooncakes and arrange fruit trays, an integral course of the mid-autumn party.

The museum will host the festival this weekend, on September 6-7.

VNS/VNN