London (VNA) – A Mid-Autumn Festival celebration has been held in London, gathering a large number of Vietnamese children in the UK and local friends.

The event, which took place within the framework of the East and Southeast Asia (ESEA) Month organised by Lewisham ward to celebrate the contributions of the ESEA community in the UK, was part of the "The Moon Project" aiming to preserve traditional cultural beauty and create connections between the Vietnamese community and local people.

The festival included diverse activities such as making moon cakes, mask painting, handicraft making, chess competition, tug of war, bamboo dance, lion dance, as well as music and dance performances.

Participants to the event had a chance to enjoy traditional Vietnamese dishes and sweet treat.

At the event, the Vietnamese Family Partnership (VFP) launched a fund-raising activity to support people affected by Typhoon Yagi at home.

Addressing the celebration, Minister Counsellor and Deputy Ambassador of Vietnam to the UK To Minh Thu said that the event offers a chance for participants to remind themselves of the traditional values, love and solidarity among overseas Vietnamese community.

Councillor Edison Huynh, Cabinet Member for Culture and Communities in Lewisham, who is the first Vietnam-origin councillor in the UK, expressed his delight at the development of the Vietnamese community in the UK with activities sharing traditional cultural values at events such as the Mid-Autumn Festival, contributing to attracting the attention of British people to Vietnam and raising the understanding of local people about the great contributions of the Vietnamese community to the UK as well as many other countries in the world.

Quynh Giao Nguyen VFP Founder, said that from a small event, the Mid-Autumn has become the biggest occasion of Vietnamese in the UK and a pride of the community, bringing Vietnamese cultural values closer to local friends, contributing to enriching the local culture and enhancing the prestige and image of Vietnamese people in the country.

𒅌 The event also aims to create opportunities for generations of Vietnamese people born and raised in the UK to learn about the origins and traditions of hard work of the nation, and create beautiful childhood memories with traditional Vietnamese values for Vietnamese children in the European country, she said./.