Opening Ceremony of the 17th Lang Vac Village Festival, 2016

(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of March 16th, at the Lang Vac archaeological site in Nghia Hoa commune, Thai Hoa town, the Town Party Committee and People's Committee organized the opening ceremony of the 17th Lang Vac Festival, 2016.

The festival was attended by representatives from several provincial departments and agencies, neighboring districts, town leaders, and people of various ethnic groups in Phu Quy.

The bronze drum and bronze cauldron are carried in procession from the festival site to the Lang Vac Shrine.

Lang Vac is an archaeological site discovered and excavated by archaeologists over the years 1972, 1973, 1980, 1981, and 1990, covering an area of ​​20,000 m².²The excavation and exploration area covers nearly 1000m².², in Nghia Hoa commune.

Visitors learn about the artifacts preserved at the Lang Vac Shrine Complex, recovered from previous excavations.

Lang Vac village served as both a residential area and a burial ground, with hundreds of tombs having been discovered. During three exploration and excavation campaigns, nearly 700 artifacts were unearthed, including stone, bronze, and glass objects, with the number of bronze artifacts alone increasing to 6,000 to date.

Comrade Le Tien Tri, Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of the Town Party Committee, beat the drum to inaugurate the 2016 Vac Village Festival.

According to the collection of artifacts, the Lang Vac site has characteristics of the Son Vi culture and continues into the Dong Son culture period. Among the bronze artifacts recovered at Lang Vac, the most notable are 5 bronze drums and thousands of other artifacts such as bronze axes, glass jewelry, human statues, elephant statues, horse statues, etc.

Because of these immense archaeological values, the Lang Vac archaeological site has been classified as a national historical site by the Ministry of Culture.

Cultural performances at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Vạc Village Festival.

A large number of people attended the 2016 Lang Vac Village Festival.

The festival consists of two parts: the ceremonial part begins with the traditional procession of the nine-handled cauldron and the ritual offering to the gods at the village temple of Vac to pray for national peace and prosperity, favorable weather, and a bountiful harvest.

The festival includes traditional folk games, gong music, tug-of-war, throwing the ball, card games, stick pushing, interspersed with new games to increase the diversity of the festival such as: art and music competitions, beauty contests, culinary competitions, volleyball, etc., reflecting the rich cultural identity of the ethnic groups and attracting a large number of people and ethnic communities to participate.

Calligraphy writing at the festival attracted the attention of the locals.

Having been held 16 times, the Lang Vac Festival has become a beautiful cultural tradition, providing an opportunity for the people of Phu Quy and visitors from all over to return to their spiritual roots, to their Lac Hong ancestry, to celebrate the spring festival, and to satisfy their desire to appreciate the cultural values ​​left behind by their ancestors.

Traditional folk game: swinging on a swing at the festival.

The festival is also an opportunity for people of all ethnic groups in Phu Quy to gather, demonstrate community solidarity, cultivate a sense of gratitude towards their roots, educate awareness of protecting and preserving historical relics, and preserve and promote traditional cultural and historical values, thereby building faith and pride in their homeland.

Competing in stick pushing at the festival.

Mixed men's and women's tug-of-war at the festival.

This year, the Lang Vac Festival took place from March 15th to 17th, 2013 (corresponding to the 7th, 8th, and 9th days of the 2nd lunar month of the Year of the Monkey).

Huu Nghia