At this time of previous years, Ong Hao Village in the northern province of Hung Yen used to be busy for the production of Mid-Autumn toys. Lots of households even have to work overnight to meet the demand.

   A product for the Mid-Autumn festival in Ong Hao Village

However, the situation is different this year as the drop in orders caused local household incomes to decrease by 50-70%.

The village has been known for making traditional toys for hundreds of years. Initially, the products are major drums, but later, more products are made.

Toys made in Ong Hao Village have been available nationwide.

Vu Huy Linh whose family is among the oldest drum producers in the village said that currently, he has repainting drums which have not yet been sold.

“In previous years, our family’s workshop was extremely busy preparing for the coming Full Moon Festival. But this year, we have almost not had any orders,” he said.

According to Linh, his family sold around 10,000 drums priced at VND30,000-100,000 each, depending on different kinds. This meant that he earned a profit of VND5,000-10,000 each. But the figure is merely 2,000 drums.

Vu Huy Dong’s family is in the same situation as a large number of paper marks is still waiting for customers. Formerly, his workshop provided a monthly income of VND4-5 million per worker.

 Dong is creating masks

These losses are quite big as many households prepared materials from last year.

Despite the challenges, villagers try to preserve the traditional craft with the strong belief that when the Mid-Autumn Festival comes, they will still have chances to live.

“I won’t abandon the craft which I have been living with for four decades. Three generations in his family have been involved in this,” Linh noted.

He always reminds his children of preserving the traditional toy production. 

 Households in a Mid-Autumn Festival toy making village have seen a sharp fall in their income due to being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic

Nguyet Van Miet, head of the village, said that previously, 50% of local households made traditional toys, but the number has sharply fallen because many people turned to work for industrial parks.

Meanwhile, the village’s products have to compete with Chinese toys.

The village welcomed thousands of visitors per month in the previous time, but now just a modest number.

“We hoped authorities would have measures to support us amid difficulties due to the pandemic,” he said. Dtinews

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