On Saturday night, the Hoi An Culture and Sports Centre will organise a lion dancing contest for children at the Hoai River Square.— Photo dantri

HA NOI (VNS) — Hoi An authorities and enterprises will organise many activities to celebrate Mid Autumn festival for children this weekend.

On Saturday night, the Hoi An Culture and Sports Centre will organise a lion dancing contest for children at the Hoai River Square.

And the Da Nang Young Calligraphers' Club will offer free calligraphy paintings to tourists in An Hoi Statue Park.

Many other activities celebrating the festival aim to reflect a night in Hoi An a century ago.

Truong Van Bay, vice chairman of Hoi An People's Committee, said the activities would entertain both locals and tourists.

Earlier this week, the city hosted the Bai Choi Folk Singing and Game Contest to entertain tourists at the Old Quarter and to celebrate the National Day.

The folk singing and game popular in the central coastal region is now held every month.

Time for dreaming

A programme titled Moon Festival – Lightening Vietnamese Children's Dreams will be held in the southern city of Can Tho on Sunday.

The annual event has been organised by the Central Council of the Young Pioneer Brigade and Vietcombank for the past six years in Ha Noi, Nghe An and HCM City for thousands of disabled and needy children.

This year's event will bring together 180 children from southern provinces including Tien Giang, Long An, Dong Thap, Vinh Long, Tra Vinh, Ben Tre, Hau Giang - plus 1,000 children from Can Tho City.

The participants can enjoy folk games and painting. All will receive gifts for the festival and grants to help their studies.

The children will then tour tourist sites in the city.

Overcoming difficulties

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan yesterday took part in the Mid-Autumn Festival with children in the northern province of Ninh Binh and granted scholarships to poor but deserving students.

More than 100 poor students with excellent academic records received the scholarships, worth VND3 million (US$142) each, from the National Fund for Vietnamese Children. The Vice President also presented 570 gifts to the children during the festival.

Doan praised the students' efforts in overcoming difficulties to achieve excellent academic results and hoped that they would continue studying hard and become productive citizens of society. — VNS