Thousands of children, residents and tourists came together at NguyenTat Thanh Square in Phan Thiet city, Binh Thuan province, on September7 for a Mid-Autumn lantern parade.

More than 3,000children from the city’s 31 schools brought along their own colourfullanterns inspired by fairy tales, cartoon characters and national icons,such as naval ships and land markers on Truong Sa islands.
 
To the beat of the drums, 32 large lanterns and thousands of smallones marched through Phan Thiet’s streets, lighting up the entire city.

The parade provided a safe environment for children on theoccasion of the mid-autumn festival. It is one of the five traditionalfestivals held in Binh Thuan province to promote the local tourismsector.

The parade was recognised as the largest of its kind inVietnam by the Vietnam Book of Records (Vietbooks) and as thetourism sector’s most successful cultural festival by the Guide Awards.

The same day, the event “Moon Festival – IlluminateVietnamese children’s dreams” was held in Can Tho city for children inthe Mekong delta.

Around 40 disadvantaged students from the region’s 13 provinces were awarded scholarships during the event.

On this occasion, the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade ofVietnam (Vietcombank), Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services Company(Mobifone), and other sponsors, presented over 300 scholarships and3,200 gifts to children.

Present at the event, Vice PresidentNguyen Thi Doan wished the children of the region a happy festival andexpressed her hope that the event would encourage them to keep up thegood work in future.

The programme was organised by the Ho ChiMinh Communist Youth Union in cooperation with Vietnam NationalTelevision and Vietcombank.-VNA