SOLL Event: Mid-Autumn Festival and Traditional Vietnamese Children’s Games

Our very own academic staff from the School of Linguistics and Languages, Dr Tess Do and Dr Trang Nguyen, together with Dr Vu Lan Anh Pham, are organising a traditional Vietnamese festival that showcases Vietnam’s folk games and artefacts. To celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, mooncakes, spring rolls and tea will be served. The event is supported by the Faculty of Art’s Diversity and Small Grants Program.

Felicia interviewed Dr Tess Do and Dr Trang Nguyen about the event.

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What inspired you to organise the event?

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional children’s festival that is celebrated yearly in every household in Vietnam and Vietnamese communities overseas.

As Vietnamese children, we recall the immense excitement surrounding this festival. Alongside my siblings, we eagerly awaited its arrival so that we could get our hands on beautiful lanterns and toys. We had the idea of showcasing some of these toys and traditional Vietnamese children’s games as they serve as reflections of our Vietnamese social life and culture.  

In Vietnam, the festival occurs in autumn, while in Australia, it falls in early spring, when the days are becoming warmer and sunnier. This timing is perfect to organise a joyful festival that everyone can participate in and enables us to share this aspect of Vietnamese culture with our Melbourne University community.

How did you manage to organise the event despite how busy you are?

Our event involved student volunteers from the community of Vietnamese international students at the University of Melbourne. It was through one of our co-organisers, Dr Lan Anh Pham Vu, who has maintained close contact with this community, that we connected with our student volunteers. It is heartening to see how quickly they agreed to lend a hand on the day of the event. In addition to their assistance, they will also be performing a song for us.

Two main challenges we encountered as a team were the shortage of time – we are all full-time academic staff – and the collection of artefacts for the display. While we could locate quite a few items, not everything we had in mind was readily available in Australia.

Despite these challenges, we thoroughly enjoyed assembling the display. Handling toys and lanterns brought us back to our childhood, allowing us to talk about our happy time in Vietnam. We are also very excited about extending a warm welcome to our staff and students at the University of Melbourne. We hope that they will enjoy our presentation, display, and Vietnamese food at our event.

It sounds exciting. What can participants look forward to during the event?

Participants can look forward to discovering a few interesting aspects of the Vietnamese Mid-Autumn festival and being transported back to their own childhood through games and toys. We also have a little surprise in store for our guests on that day.

Thank you so much for speaking with me. All the best for the event!

Thank you, Felicia.

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Date/Day: 14 September 2023 / Thursday

Time: 1pm to 2pm

Venue: Arts Hall, Level 2, Old Arts

Note: Bring your own cups and empty bellies