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Vietnam festivals and events
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The festivals and events are calendared in Lunar
month. Normally, a lunar month stay later than western month of
around 30 days.
AUGUST
HONCHEN TEMPLE FESTIVAL
The Hon Chen Temple Festival is organized twice every year in the
3rd and the 7th lunar months. The festival takes place at the Hon
Chen temple, 10 km west of Hue. It starts with a procession
referred to as the God Welcoming ceremony, said to bring all the
worshipped Gods from the village temples and shrines to the
communal house where various rituals are performed, including the
procession in honour of Saint Mother Thien Y A Na. The procession
takes place at night on the Perfume River, which shines with a
myriad of lights. The procession ivolves a long line of boats
bound together into bigger rafts.
The Hon Chen Temple Festival includes a performance filled with
imperial characters. Actors dressed in clothes with splendid
turbans and tunics look like princes and princesses of the Nguyen
dynasty. These shows take place in the natural settings of
mountains, hills, and rivers. This Antique Museum of Nature shows
flags, fans, hammocks, umbrellas, weapons, and offerings
Another months
SEPTEMBER
MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL
For a long time, Vietnam and some other Asian
countries who follow the rite of worshipping the Moon Genie,
welcome the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the 8th lunar
month. This is the time when the moon is full, the farm
work is at rest, and the weather is cool and fresh. Apart from the
Lunar New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the most impressive
event for the Vietnamese, particularly the children. There is no
other event in the year other than this festival that provides
them with as much entertainment, toys, cakes, candies, and fruit.
About half a month before the event, various kinds
of colourful items, mostly cakes, candies and toys, are displayed
for sale along the streets, in the shops and at the markets.
Everyone, both domestic and foreign, is eager to go either
shopping or sight-seeing. On the festive day, some families cook
outstanding food to offer their ancestors during the daytime. In
the evening, the mid-autumn festive party is prepared with cakes,
candies and fruits. Cakes are various, but a "must" is the banh
deo (glutinous-rice dumplings) and banh nuong (cakes)
in the shape of the moon and fish. Fruit , including longans,
simmons, bananas, grapefruits, etc., are also abundant and
diverse.
The Festival is exceptionally interesting for the
children who play happily with the bright new toys. The toys are
made from various different forms: the lion lead, the animal in
folk tales and stories. The lanterns are colourful and of various
kinds, such as the rabbit, the carp, etc. Besides traditional
carton paper toys, plastic and bamboo plates, ships, tanks, etc.
made of plastics with batteries and having remote controls are
also on sale. This is understandable due to the economic
improvements of the people. Whether organized in the city or
countryside, the preserved tradition of the Mid-Autumn Festival is
reflected in the way the children play games such as
seek-and-hide, lion dancing, lantern marching, etc.
The welcome-the-moon party in the evening is a good
opportunity for the children not only to enjoy the food, but also
to learn more from their grandparents and parents. They are told
how to prepare the party in the most attractive way. To decorate
the party, there is always a "doctor" made of paper or dough,
which reminds the children of the high achievements to be obtained
in their studies. The time to start enjoying the party is solemnly
shared by the whole family and becomes the most sacred moment of
the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the bright moonlight, clear sky and
fresh environment, everybody is relaxed with a pure and detached
joy.
Lion dances are also thought to ensure good fortune. Accompanied
by gongs and bells, a man in a huge lion mask is followed by a
train of children who carry a long cloth tail. This dance is based
on a legend about an old woman who was caught by a lion on the
night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. She asked the lion to allow her
to attend the evening's festivities, promised to return the next
day and accepted her fate. The lion agreed and the woman joined
her neighbors in celebration. Come morning, she remembered her
predicament and began to cry, at which time the gods intervened
and sent a magical snake to save her. The dance is a recreation of
the fight between the snake and the gullible hon.
Starting Dates in Western
Calendar
2003
Sept 11, 2004 Sept
28,
2005 Sept 18,
2006 Oct 6,
2007 Sept 25,
2008 Sept 14
DOSON BUFFALO FIGHTING FESTIVAL
The Buffalo Fight in Do Son (Haiphong City) is officially
held every year on the 9th day of the 8th month of the lunar
calendar. There are, in fact, two rounds of elimination before the
middle of the 5th month and 8th day of the 6th lunar month.
The preparation for this festival is very elaborate. Fighting
buffaloes must be carefully selected, well fed, and trained. These
buffaloes must be between 4 and 5 years old, with a good
appearance, a wide chest, a big groin, a long neck, an acute
bottom, and bow shaped horns. The fighting buffaloes are fed in
separate cages to keep them from contact with common buffaloes.
The beginning of the worshipping ceremony lasts until lunch time.
A typical procession begins with an octet and a big procession
chair, carried by six strong young men. The six clean buffaloes
that are part of the ceremony are covered with red cloths and
bound with reddish bands on their horns. There are 24 young men
who dance and wave flags as two teams of troops start fighting.
After this event, a pair of buffaloes are led to opposite sides of
the festival grounds and are made to stand near two flags called
Ngu Phung. When the right signal is released, the two buffaloes
are moved to within 20m of each other. At the next signal, the two
leaders release the ropes that are attached to the noses of the
buffaloes. The two buffaloes then rush into each other with well
practiced movements. The spectators then shout and urge the
fighting along.
At the completion of the fight, the spectacle of "receiving the
buffaloes" is very interesting as the leaders must then catch the
winning buffalo to grant it its reward.
The Buffalo Fight in Do Son is a traditional festival that is
attached to a Water God worshipping ceremony and the "Hien Sinh"
custom. The most typical reason for the ceremony is to express the
martial spirit of the local people in Do Son, Haiphong.
Starting Dates in Western
Calendar
2003
Sept 05, 2004 Sept
22,
2005 Sept 12,
2006 Oct 30,
2007 Sept 19,
2008 Sept 08
KIEP BAC FESTIVAL
The Kiep Bac Temple, where people come to worship
Tran Quoc Tuan, the main general of the Tran Dynasty, is located
in Hung Dao Commune, Chi Linh District, Hai Duong Province. Tran
Quoc Tuan was the general who defeated the Chinese Nguyen-Mong
invaders three times. Because of his merits to the nation, he was
proclaimed a saint.
To get to Kiep Bac Temple from Hanoi City, take the
National Highway that leads to the township of Bac Ninh (about 30
km). Then, go along National Highway No.18 that stretches from Bac
Ninh to Pha Lai, and which eventually leads to Kiep Bac Temple.
The Kiep Bac Temple Festival lasts from the 15th to 20th day of
the 8th lunar month.
A pilgrimage to the Kiep Bac Temple Festival has
been deemed a centuries old Vietnamese custom honouring Saint
Tran. The main day of the festival occurs on the 20th day of the
8th lunar month, but from the previous days onward, the festival
attract visitors from all over. The main ceremony is followed by a
great ceremony with elaborate worshipping procedures. This
ceremony is followed next by a procession where Saint Tran's
ancestral tablet is brought on a golden procession chair, passing
three walled gates toward the river bank. The procession chair is
then placed on a royal barge. The procession march lasts for two
hours and then Saint Tran's ancestral tablet is brought back to
the main temple for the last religious service.
In the olden times, the religious service in the
Kiep Bac Temple Festival was simple and conducting a trance was
the main activity. The festival has been improved, but it still
bears the special characteristics of the traditional national
identity. One of the most interesting activities in the festival
is the boat race on the Luc Dau River, in which hundreds of boats
participate. The boat race is like flying arrows rushing through
the air as the boats are urged along by drumming sounds and the
screaming of excited people. Taking part in the Kiep Bac Temple
Festival, participants relive the atmosphere of when Tran Quoc
Tuan placed his troops into a battle-array. This festival makes
the Vietnamese people feel proud of the glorious traditions of
their nation
Starting Dates in Western
Calendar
2003
Sept 05, 2004 Sept
22,
2005 Sept 12,
2006 Oct 30,
2007 Sept 19,
2008 Sept 08
Another months
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