Secondhand festival attracts young and old

Thousands of youngsters attended the secondhand item exchange festival or “Mottainai Festival” at Hanoi’s Trung Vuong primary school.

The first Mottainai Festival was organized in 2008. “Mottainai” is a Japanese word, meaning “Alas, so wasteful!” This word is often uttered when a useful thing is misused.

This word has been appropriated for an annual secondhand item exchange festival in Japan, which has spread to many countries in the world, including Vietnam.

Many people gathered at the yard of Trung Vuong primary school in the early morning to participate in the fifth annual Mottainai Festival.

At this special event, visitors don’t need money. They only need their un-needed but useful items to swap for other things that are still in good condition.

The theme of the 5^th Mottainai Festival is “3R Fair”. It reproduced the atmosphere of a kermis in Hanoi in the old time with traditional cuisines and folk games to celebrate Hanoi’s 1000^th birthday.

Young people were happy to exchange. “I’ve participated in the Mottainai three times. I’ve exchanged many necessary things. I think this festival is very meaningful because it helps us practice thrift and reminds people about protecting the environment,” remarked Dieu Huong, a student from Hanoi Teacher Training University.

Vu Thuy Anh, from the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School, commented: “This is the first time I have attended this festival. This is not only a meaningful event, but also a playground for us to show our organizing ability and our creativeness.”

The festival also drew elderly participants. Mr. Tuan, 65, observed: “I’m very glad that young people have organized this festival. This is a way to protect the environment and protect our lives. I hope that such holidays will be held in the future.”

Attendants bring their secondhand items to the classification table to exchange for tickets of A, B, C grades and then exchange these tickets for other used items of equivalent value.

Stalls are decorated uniquely.

Used items are very diverse, from key hooks to hairpins, bracelets to clothes, bags to magazines.

A young calligrapher.

A group of volunteers from the 3R Hanoi Club sell handmade items to raise fund for education programs on environment.

Schoolboys are very interested in the event.

This boy brought some old books to the festival and hoped to exchange them for a shirt.

PV