The unique mud wrestling festival in Bac Giang province.

Around the middle of the fourth lunar month each year, in Yen Vien village, Van Ha commune (Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province), a mud wrestling festival is held to pray for favorable weather and prosperity for the villagers.

This year's mud ball festival in Yen Vien village will be held from April 12th to 14th (Lunar Calendar). The festival takes place at the historical site of Van Temple, with the competition arena being the ceremonial courtyard in front of the temple, covering over 200 square meters and filled with liquid mud. At either end of the arena are two pits, approximately 80cm deep and 50cm wide, where the players push the ball into the muddy pits during the ball-grabbing game.

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The competition lasted three hours, from 2 PM to 5 PM, between two fiercely contested teams.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Lam, an elderly villager, "The mud ball festival is unique to this place. After many years of being lost, it was revived and organized again in 2002. Since then, the villagers have been able to watch it once a year."

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The competition is held over three days, the 12th, 13th, and 14th of the fourth lunar month. On the 12th, two balls are played (one successful push of the ball into the hole counts as one ball), on the 13th, three balls are played, and on the 14th, four balls are played. The ball handlers of the two teams compete to grab a wooden ball, approximately 40cm in diameter, and try to push it into a hole on the opponent's side of the field.

The participants were mostly young, able-bodied men from the village.

According to Dulich.vn