Lantern craft village is flooded with orders during the Mid-Autumn Festival, making as soon as orders are placed.

Mid-Autumn Festival 2025 is approaching, but in Phu Binh lantern village (HCMC), which used to be the most colorful and bustling place every moon season, the atmosphere this year is much quieter. Orders are sparse, traders are cautious about importing goods, many households are only doing it moderately with the motto "order as much as you need, make as much as you need", causing the traditional craft village to face many difficulties.

With less than a month to go until Mid-Autumn Festival, the images of bamboo frames, zinc, and red cellophane have crept into every alley of Phu Binh lantern village, but the artisans here can also feel the gloomy atmosphere of this year's Mid-Autumn Festival.

According to Mr. Nguyen Trong Thanh, a lantern artisan with 40 years of experience, the biggest difference of this year's Mid-Autumn Festival is that the number of orders has clearly decreased and they arrived later than every year.

If in the past, traders had placed orders early to prepare supplies, this year, the factory had to wait until the last minute to receive requests, producing on the fly.

For small traders, business this year also started late and slower due to changes in administrative procedures after the merger and economic fluctuations, which made them not dare to import as much as before. Most of them only dared to take enough goods to sell.

Electronic lanterns with diverse designs, eye-catching lighting effects and competitive prices still dominate the market, putting no small pressure on handmade lanterns.

PHOTO: BAO HAO

Worried about the risk of their craft being lost, artisans of Phu Binh lantern village still persevere in their craft and seek a new direction: transforming lanterns from Mid-Autumn Festival toys into decorative products and gifts associated with traditional culture. From improving patterns, materials, and design frames to making large-sized lanterns on demand for shops, companies, events, etc., they have both preserved the traditional features and opened a new path for handmade lanterns to exist all year round.

Although orders this year are only "sporadic" and moderate, Phu Binh artisans still persevere in their profession, carefully crafting each product to preserve the traditional beauty. In the context of the volatile Mid-Autumn Festival 2025 market, the story of the lantern craft village not only reflects the common difficulties of handicraft households, but also reminds us of the cultural values ​​that need to be preserved. Because more than just a toy for the full moon season, lanterns are also childhood memories, a link connecting the quintessence of Vietnamese culture through many generations.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lang-nghe-long-den-lai-rai-don-hang-mua-trung-thu-dat-den-dau-lam-den-do-185250916155530076.htm