History and celebration of Tet Trung Thu, the Vietnamese Mid-Autumn  Festival.

Tet Trung Thu, as it is known in Vietnam, or the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival as we refer to it in America, is a wonderful, ancient festival that revolves around children.

The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (Tet Trung Thu) dates back as far as 15-20,000 years ago in Southeast Asia, and is traditionally held on the 15th day of the 8th Lunar Month. This year, the date of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is September 2, the same day as the full moon. The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is one of the two most popular festivals in Vietnam, and has been important to families in Vietnam for many years.

It is said that originally, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival came about as a way for parents to make up for lost time with their children after harvest season. The harvest was done by September, (August in the Lunar calendar) and the parents were anxious to spend time with their children and do something special with them, as well as celebrate the harvest, after spending much time working hard and away from the family. It was held under the full moon, which represents fullness and prosperity of life.

Tet Trung Thu is very much like a combination of our Halloween and Thanksgiving. Children parade on the streets, while singing and carrying colorful lanterns of different sizes. Some of the popular shapes include fishes, stars, butterflies and a lantern that spins when a candle is inserted, representing the earth circling the sun.

Dances are also traditional, and include the dragon dance and the flower dance.

It is customary to give Banh Trung Thu, boxes of moon cakes, which are traditionally mooncake in this festival. The cakes are filled with lotus seeds, ground beans and orange peels and have a bright yoke in the center to represent the moon.

Today, the Chinese moon cake festival, as well as encouraging affection for children, promotes education, poetry, dance and arts and crafts.

Many Vietnamese communities in the USA hold Mid-Autumn Moon Festivals, including Washington DC and San Jose. For families that don’t live in an area with an organized Tet Trung Thu Festival, have your own! It is a wonderful opportunity to share and learn about your child’s culture, and a great opportunity for family fun too!

To help children get ready for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, parents can help children make their lanterns and costumes for the lantern procession and discuss the history and culture of Vietnam.

Showing our love for our children and teaching of Vietnam’s love for their children is a wonderful reason to celebrate!

Source: http://www.adoptvietnam.org/vietnamese/tet-trung-thu.htm

Moon cakes are typically round, symbolizing the full round moon of the mid-autumn festival. They are usually made with four egg yolks, representing the four phases of the moon, and are sweet, filled with sweet bean or lotus seed paste.

There are savory types as well and these days, you can even get them from Haagen Dazs. Read more about moon cakes and how to make them from Rhonda Parkinson, Guide to Chinese Cuisine.

History of the Moon Cake

According to chinese moon cake festival one legend, it was with the help of the mooncake that the Ming Dynasty established. Rebels used the festival as a method to convey their plans for revolt. They ordered the baking of special cakes to commemorate the festival.

But what the Mongol leaders didn’t know was that secret messages were tucked into the cakes and distributed to allied rebels. On the night of the festival, the rebels successfully attacked, overthrowing the Mongol government and establishing a new era, the Ming Dynasty.

Source: http://gochina.about.com/od/eventsfestivals/p/MoonFestival.htm

Talented artists from the spice girl is one artist who has a rising career in the UK.  She is a British singer was nicknamed “Ginger Spice”.

Geraldine Estelle “Geri” Halliwell (born 6 August 1972) is an English pop singer–songwriter, author, actress and philanthropist. After coming to international prominence as a member of the girl group, the Spice Girls, Halliwell launched her solo career and released her debut album Schizophonic.

Since then she has released two more studio albums — Scream If You Wanna Go Faster and Passion — and four number one singles at the UK Singles Chart, “Mi Chico Latino”, “Lift Me Up”, “Bag It Up” and “It’s Raining Men”. In 2008 Halliwell published a book series named Ugenia Lavender. As a solo artist Halliwell has sold 12 million records worldwide and been nominated for Brit Awards in both 2000 and 2002.

Career
1994–98: Spice Girls
Halliwell first found fame as one of the five members of the girl group the Spice Girls, and was dubbed Ginger Spice by Top of the Pops  magazine in 1996 because of her flaming red hair and sassy, assertive attitude. Geri became renowned for wearing outrageous stage costumes and often garnered extensive publicity.

The group sold over 65 million records and are the best selling girl group of all time. Their debut single “Wannabe” became the first of nine number-ones in the United Kingdom and reached the top position in 41 countries around the globe, including Australia, Canada and the United States. Other successful releases followed, including “Say You’ll Be There” and “2 Become 1″ from Spice, and “Spice Up Your Life”, “Too Much” and “Stop” from Spiceworld.

On 30 May 1998 Halliwell left the Spice Girls due to depression and differences between the group. The first official confirmation was an announcement to the media by her solicitor on 31 May. Her action aroused controversy, her former group being due to embark on a North American tour, which they eventually completed without her. Although she had already left the group, the Spice Girls released “Viva Forever”, the final music video to feature Halliwell’s likeness. After she left, the other girls co-wrote a few songs about her which appeared on their album Forever: “Goodbye” and “Let Love Lead the Way”.

1998–2005: Solo Musical Career
Shortly after leaving the Spice Girls, Halliwell appeared in a 90 minute documentary Geri for the British television channel Channel 4 by Molly Dineen. In 1999 Halliwell launched her solo career and released her debut album Schizophonic, with the lead single “Look at Me”, produced by Absolute and Phil Bucknall. “Look at Me” would go on to sell over one million copies worldwide, followed by further number ones at the UK Singles Chart “Mi Chico Latino”, “Lift Me Up” and “Bag It Up”. Halliwell performed “Bag It Up” during the BRIT Awards ceremony in 2000, emerging between giant inflatable legs, ripping off her shirt and walking in stiletto heels over the backs of topless pink-haired men whilst performing the song.

“Look at Me” was released to radio in the United States in late 1999, receiving limited airplay. With only a radio single, Schizophonic debuted at number forty-two on the Billboard 200 before dropping out within the next month. The album was eventually certified Gold, distributing over 500,000 copies. “Mi Chico Latino” did not have a big impact on American radio, and no further singles from Schizophonic or albums were released in the United States. In 1999 she wrote an autobiography If Only, in which described her life as a Spice Girl.

In 2001 Halliwell followed up with her second album, Scream If You Wanna Go Faster. It also included her cover version of The Weather Girls’ 1983 hit, “It’s Raining Men”, used on the Bridget Jones’s Diary film soundtrack, and the video game, DDRMAX2 Dance Dance Revolution 7thMix. The song also won her the International Song of the Year award at the 2002 NRJ Music Awards. The song has been added to the album at the last minute, and another song “Feels Like Sex” had already been slated as the lead single. The singles that followed, “Scream If You Wanna Go Faster” and “Calling”, reached, respectively, number eight and number seven in the United Kingdom. Halliwell even released a special French edition of the single, entitled “Au Nom de L’amour”. Scream If You Wanna Go Faster was not released in the United States.

In 2002 Halliwell was featured alongside Pete Waterman and Louis Walsh as a judge on the television series Popstars: The rivals which created Girls Aloud. The following year she released her second autobiography, Just for the Record, detailing her rise to fame and her turbulent celebrity lifestyle. She has also released two Yoga DVDs with her yoga teacher Katy Appleton, Geri Yoga and Geri Body Yoga. In the United States Halliwell has also appeared as a judge on the reality programme All American Girl and as a guest reporter on celebrity-based series Extra. She has also made appearances in the television series Sex and the City and in the 2004 film Fat Slags, based on characters from Viz Magazine. In 2004, Halliwell appeared on channel Five as one of the hosts of the Party in the Park event for The Prince’s Trust, the presenter and main performer of the Tickled Pink Girls’ night in Live! event and an appearance in a documentary There’s Something About Geri.

In late 2004, Halliwell made a return to music with the single “Ride It”, which reached number four in the United Kingdom and number one on the dance charts. However, several months elapsed before another single was released, during which time she was apparently instructed to record some new tracks for the as yet unreleased album by her record company, which was unhappy with the setlist. Halliwell planned her first solo tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland, but due to lack of ticket sales, compounded by the label’s pressure on Halliwell to record additional songs led to the cancellation of the tour. Eventually a new single, “Desire”, was released on 30 May 2005, reaching number 22 in the UK Singles Chart and number one on the UK Dance Charts. Released shortly after, the album Passion similarly received little attention from the public or critics, and stalled at number 41 in the UK charts. Halliwell’s recording contract with EMI was subsequently not renewed, and in recent interviews Halliwell has stated that she is not interested in recording another album at the moment and was content with writing children’s books and being a mother. In 2009 Passion become available in the United States via Amazon.com.

Source: http://www.floweradvisor.com.sg/lifestyle/interests/music/150480/musical_career_of_geri_haliwell/

See Also : Mooncake, Mid autumn festival, Chinese moon cake festival