For many families, the festival includes rituals for Buddha and ancestors, with offerings such as incense, flowers, candles, votive paper and wine, while sticky rice and sweet soup remain essential altar items.
A well-known sticky rice and sweet soup shop on Hang Hom Street in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Ward was bustling from early morning, with the owner and family working non-stop from dawn.
People queued along the pavement, at times spilling onto the road, to buy sticky rice and sweet soup for the first full moon offering.
Some residents said they waited nearly 30 minutes to buy a VND 10,000 portion of sticky rice. Red sticky rice and mung bean sticky rice were priced at VND 75,000 per kilogramme.
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Nguyen Bich Hop said she waited about 20 minutes to buy 2 kilogrammes for her family’s midday ritual. “I come here every year for the full moon. It is usually busy, but not with such long queues,” she added.
Queues still stretched along Hang Hom Street by 8 am, causing minor traffic congestion.
Lam Thi Ha, from Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Ward, waited more than 20 minutes to buy a portion of gac sticky rice and two cups of sweet soup for the first full moon offering.
At Hang Be Market, known for ceremonial items including roasted chicken, fruit and flowers, crowds also gathered from early morning. Ceremonial chickens holding roses were selling for about VND 450,000 each.
Inside Hang Be Market, crowds queued to buy ceremonial items.
A delivery worker at one chicken shop said he began deliveries at 2 am and had already completed around 20 orders, most placed in advance.
Traders added that floral offerings, particularly trays featuring pomelo blossoms, have grown in popularity in recent years during the first full moon festival.
