Spring Festival

(Baonghean) - If Spring is considered the beginning of something fresh and lucky, then the early Spring festivals are a unique cultural highlight, opening up a bustling, exciting, and magical pace of life for a long year ahead. With 17 large and small festivals across all regions of Nghe An in early Spring, visitors from near and far can choose for themselves an interesting field trip, to immerse themselves in the festive atmosphere and rich culture with the local people, starting the new year with new momentum and opportunities...

Blindfolded pot smashing game at Vac Village Festival 2014. Photo: SM

Many people are familiar with festivals in the plains or mountains, so this early spring, try taking a trip to the coastal area to feel how deep and peaceful the sea is, how tolerant and bustling it is. This time, towards the sea, in the Quynh Nghia area (Quynh Luu), the joyful flags and flowers have been resounding throughout the villages, the drums have been carried, the ceremonial costumes are ready, the traditional long dresses, turbans... The time before the festival has also created its own exciting excitement, at that time, you seem to no longer be an outsider, but also very busy in your heart with excitement, waiting, and worries... The festival in Quynh Nghia is held on January 11, At Mui year, commonly known as the Thuong Temple Festival. You must be very lucky to come to Quynh Nghia on this important occasion, because the village tradition is that it is only held once every 10 years, to honor the value of cultural heritage, to show gratitude to the merits of the ancestors who had the merit of founding the village, protecting the country and protecting the people.

In addition to the solemn and respectful rituals, the Thuong Temple Festival also has many fun games, especially Tro Le, which creates a unique impression for the witnesses. Tro Le is a performing art form of the residents of the salty coastal area. The game dates back to the late Le Dynasty, and is a play recreating the "feats" of the village founder and founder Quan Quan Truong Dac Phu in suppressing the rebels of Hop village (Nam Dinh province). If in the past Tro Le followed the style of singing tuong, hat cheo, cai luong, now in many segments, many characters will be expressed through Nghe Tinh vi and giam melodies. This year's Tro Le will be performed for 3 days, carefully prepared and performed very enthusiastically with full costumes and props such as war elephants and war horses. A very interesting thing about Tro Le is that when the battle ends, the participants will rush in to tear the performers' clothes or cloth and paper to make war elephants and horses. Legend has it that if anyone can tear that piece of cloth or paper, they will have good luck all year long. Those pieces of cloth are sewn into “amulets” for children to prevent illness. Or if infertile women can get it through the belly of a war elephant (made of cardboard), they will receive good news.

How interesting it would be if you were present at the Thuong Temple Festival this year, but if you missed the trip, the Con Temple Festival (Quynh Phuong Ward, Hoang Mai Town) is waiting for you to experience. The festival is associated with Con Temple, built in 1235, one of the four most famous and sacred relics of Nghe An. The festival is held annually, bearing the rich sedimentary features of the thousand-year-old estuary. Very excited, the spring boat groups opening the festival, brilliant with colorful flags, flowers, the sound of drums, and gongs reverberating in the chests of eager anticipation. Con Temple Festival will "treat" guests from near and far with a thrilling naval battle performance, associated with the legend of the temple's construction, with blue and red troops fighting on a rugged mountain range from Oi village to Con Temple. The naval battle is of such a scale that, although the festival is annual, the naval battle is only held once every three years. And then there are countless customs, practices, and folk festivals that are still preserved by local residents, such as the vomit running, swinging, wrestling, human chess, opera, etc.

Spring festivals are often associated with legends, myths, and the heroic will of the people of Nghe An, typically the Mai King Temple Festival, the Qua Son Temple Festival, the Cuong Temple Festival... The most impressive and widespread is still the Mai King Temple Festival, to commemorate Mai Hac De - the national hero who led the uprising to drive out the brutal Tang army, regaining 10 years of independence for the people of Giao Chi. At the opening of the Mai King Temple Festival, the Vi and Giam countryside is bustling with excitement.

Only by arriving at the festival early and immersing in the bustling atmosphere can one fully appreciate the significance of this important festival. Cultural and artistic activities were bustling several days before the main ceremony, and on the eve of the ceremony, every household prepared a neat tray of food to offer to King Mai and the soldiers. This year, when coming to the King Mai Temple Festival, people will witness some of the traditional festival contents being restored, such as the water procession from Sa Nam wharf to King Mai Temple. At the same time, they will enjoy the Cai Luong play "Mai Hac De" by author Nguyen The Ky, former Secretary of Nam Dan District Party Committee (now Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department) performed by the Vietnam Cai Luong Theater. The ceremony and the festival, traditional and contemporary, blend together, illuminating the spirit of a fresh spring, trust and love in the hearts of every participant.

Joining the atmosphere of the early Spring festival in Nghe An, friends near and far, please remember the folk saying "Nhat Con, Nhi Qua, Tam Bach Ma, Tu Chieu Trung" and choose for yourself ideal places to travel. This year, around the 19th-20th of the first lunar month, come to Boi Son commune, Do Luong district, immerse yourself in the sacredness of the Qua Son Temple Festival. Or go to Dien An (Dien Chau), enjoy the uniqueness of the Cuong Temple Festival taking place on the 14th-15th of the second lunar month? If you are still wondering if you want to take a long trip, the most attractive is the Vac Village Festival taking place from the 7th-9th of the second lunar month in Vac Village, Nghia Hoa commune, Thai Hoa town. A deep cultural area, associated with the relics of the ancient Vietnamese people, belonging to the Dong Son cultural period, is identified as one of the two "ancestral lands of Nghe An". The ancient land shining with Spring is waiting for you ahead...

The salty sea, the vast plains, and the vast cultural areas, with their own unique features of the ethnic groups in the Western Nghe An region. The Xen Muong Festival (Muong Worship), Xen Ban (Village Worship), Xen Huon (House Worship/Ancestor Worship), Kin Gong (New Year), Tham Bua Festival (Quy Chau), Pun Pang Festival (Quy Hop), Choong Temple Festival (Quy Hop), Chin Gian Temple Festival (Que Phong), Van Temple Festival - Cua Rao (Tuong Duong), Pu Nha Thau Festival (Ky Son), Spring Thunder Festival, Flower Blooming Season Festival... are bustling with the bright colors of peach blossoms and the pure white of Ban flowers. In the mindset of the mountain people, Spring is the season of love, the season of fun, so the festival part of these festivals is always very rich. Have you ever tried carving furrows with the Thai ethnic people, or let your soul wander on the fairy swings? Have the eyes of people from far away ever seen the colorful, charming brocades, the peach-red smiles on the cheeks of young girls from far away? The festivals in the Western region of Nghe An have all of these special things.

The earliest festival is Hang Bua Festival, held from the 21st to the 23rd of the first lunar month every year. Coming to Hang Bua, visitors not only enjoy the poetic beauty of Hang Bua recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Information as a "National Scenic Relic" but also truly experience the fine customs and unique cultural values ​​of the residents who have lived and are living in this land. Next is the Nine-Room Temple Festival, held from the 14th to the 16th of the second lunar month, in Chau Kim commune, Que Phong district. The Nine-Room Temple Festival is an opportunity for the people of the ancient 9 Muong to make a pilgrimage here to pray to heaven, pray for favorable weather, good luck in business, and good crops.

The festival is also an opportunity for local people to display and introduce traditional handicrafts such as brocade, rattan and bamboo weaving, and to display and introduce culinary culture. Also at this festival, the people of the Muong villages are allowed by the District Oriental Medicine Association to bring precious local medicinal herbs to display, serving the needs of festival attendees. Spring has come, somewhere in Pu Cho Nhang, the land of the villages, Muong, I hear the rustic, captivating singing of a Thai girl calling people to the festival "Khi dac tat lau hon Phu quai a Moc, dac tan nam Chu Muong Noc a xieng" (Wishing to catch the dew on the Buffalo Temple for the reeds to catch the wind, wishing to be the wife, the husband of the famously beautiful Muong Noc people of all 9 Muong)...

Thanh Son – Phuoc Anh