Festivals in Hanoi
Dong Da Festival
Dong Da
hillock festival takes place annually on the 5th of Lunar New Year. This is a
victorious festival organized to memory of the King Quang Trung's great merit -
the hero in national history of anti - invaders.
Two centuries ago, Dong Da was a battlefield where
Quang Trung (Nguyen Hue), a Tay Son farmer who later became a National Hero
defeated more than 200,000 soldiers of the Qing invading army. Dong Da Hill
became a glorious historical site of the Vietnamese nation.
In the early morning of the 5th day, a procession
for the historical event's celebration commences at Khuong Thuong and ends at
Dong Da Hill. The procession includes flags, a processional parasol, palanquins
with a variety of colors, and the sounds of gongs and drums.
In the festival, there are a lot of games
representing martial spirit. Among them, the procession of Thang Long dragon is
most original.
Khuong Thuong village communal house's gate is
opened at the first gleam of daylight with pervasive fragrance of joss - stick.
In front of the house, a big flag is hung to welcome the festival.
More than 200 years ago, (1789) this was a bloody
battlefield. In the small hours of the 5th of Ky Dau Lunar New Year (on the
29til and 30'1' of the 2nd month 1789), the camp of invaders in Khuong Thuong
was destroyed, the invader. Ethnarch Dien Chau Sam Nghi Dong had to commit
suicide here. Since then, Dong Da hillock became a famous relic of our people.
It is also an evidence of shameful failure of the Northern enemies.
In the morning of the festival, all dignitaries and
elders in the village gather fully to prepare for the great ceremony. Nearly 12
o'clock at the noon, from Khuong Thuong communal house to Dong Da hillock,
everybody implement the procession of greeting the victory. The procession is
long, beautiful. It moves slowly and orderly for people to revere detailed the
magnificent statue of the festival.
But the most attractive and youngest is the last
group with "Fire Dragon". Young men in two villages Dong Quang and
Khuong Thuong emulate to plait straw into shapes of big dragons ornamented by
spathe and papier mache. A band of young people in uniform go around the procession
of Fire Dragon and perform stick and fist with the aim at reappearing images of
former battle and glorifying righteous Tay Son’s buoyancy. This is an original
amusement of Dong Da hillock festival.
Since the capital was liberated (October, 10th, 1954),
Dong Da hillock festival has been regarded as a traditional one - a national
festival. Thus, every year, leaders of Party and State come to attend and
preside at all rites of the festival. The national flag and flags of the
festival fluttered as greeting pilgrims. Standing opposite to the hillock is
Dong Quang pagoda where smoke of joss - stick also spreads out and visitors go
in and out plentifully. Here, priests make rice gruel for invaders spiritualists
as a righteous action of our traditional virtue. People also offer flowers to
celebrate in front of the King Quang Trung's statue.
After solemn rites are games and traditional art
activities such as unicorn dancing, dragon dancing, wrestling, human chess, and
cock fighting. The home of the King Quang Trung - Nguyen Hue is Binh Khe
district, Binh Dinh province. Here, people also built a temple for three brothers
of Tay Son family, namely, Nguyen Nhac, Nguyen Hue and Nguyen Lu. Every year,
also on the 5th of Lunar New Year, everybody from everywhere come to offer
flowers and joss-sticks to represent their gratitude to heroes and righteous
men and review glorious and proud history of our country. They also hold
competitions of military or beating drums very distinctively. Especially,
participants are not only men but also women, so it attracts more and more
visitors.
Nowadays, visiting Dong Da hillock festival has
become an indispensable need to Hanoians in early spring of every year.
Le Mat Village Festival
Le Mat Village opens the festival to commemorate
Hoang Duc Trung who had merit of taking poor people from Le Mat Village to the
capital city to reclaim the wasteland to set up 13 barracks in the west of
Thang Long Citadel (Ba Dinh District now). The festival involves water
procession from the village well, carp catching, carps offering to god, feast
(offerings) procession of 13 barracks in Ba Dinh District to the village then
offer to god. Snake dance, processions of Ga ong (heavy cock), Lon ong (fat
pig), contest of speciality cooking includes "Tam xa dai hoi" (3
kinds of snake: copperhead, krait, clubber), "Ngu ho chau lam" (5
frogs feast) and "Ly ngu vong nguyet" (big carps feast, feast of
making of raw fish and vegetables).
Co Loa Festival
Co Loa Citadel is a citadel built near Phong Khe,
about 20km to the North of today’s Hanoi, during the end of the Hồng Bàng
Dynasty (about 257 BCE).
Visiting Co Loa on the 6th of the 1st lunar month,
you will have the opportunity to take part in Co Loa Festival organized by the
12 hamlets of the village. Thuc Phan An Duong Vuong was remembered for building
Co Loa citadel and for ruling Au Lac for 50 years, 3rd century B.C. Besides the
ceremonial rites in honour of King An Duong Vuong at the Upper Temple, there is
an imposing and solemn procession of 12 palankeens going round the Trong Thuy
Well to the Village gate. Moreover, in the festival, people also put a lot of
effort into celebrating traditional activities.
On the afternoon of the 5th day of the first lunar
month, all of the eight communes (including Co Loa Commune and the establishing
relations between seven communes) hold the incense offering ceremony at the
communal house. At Thuong Temple, village officials and mandarins hold the
similar ceremony and revise the King’s contributions and achievements. The official
festival day, which is on the 6th of the first lunar month, commences with
processions of notables from surrounding villages to the King An Duong Temple
where a miniature royal court containing an incense burner, a stone tablet and
a funeral oration is placed in front of the two altars. The literature
procession is preceded by a flag that symbolizes the five elements (metal,
wood, water, fire and earth), a musical company, and a sacrifice. This
procession featuring two sedan chairs proceeds through the 12 hamlets of Co Loa
Commune. One carries a small statue of the King, the other a beheaded statue of
his daughter which symbolizes for her punishment. The procession then continues
to the Trong Thuy Well and back to the various hamlets, accompanied by firecrackers.
Preceded by the literature procession is a
sacrificial ceremony that lasts until 12 p.m. The ceremony takes place in the
King’s honour, accompanied by traditional music. Next to the ceremony is the
procession of 12 villages to take the god from the temple to the communal house
so that he can watch the festivities. This is the biggest procession with the
participation of all the palanquins. When reaching the main entrance, the
palanquins return to their villages. Co Loa’s procession and palanquin do the
same rituals once more at the communal house. The festival continues until the
16th day of the first lunar month, with evening fireworks displays, traditional
games such as cock fighting, human chess, tug of war, card playing, wrestling,
swing, rope climbing, martial arts, flag dancing and archery and performances
of ca tru, cheo and tuong.On the final day of the festival, a grand farewell
ceremony will be held at the temple. After the rituals which are the same as in
the main festival day, the cult table of god will be returned to the sanctuary.
Local people enjoy the god’s favour and expect a year of prosperity and
protection from the god. The meaningful festival is always closed with a
thanksgiving ceremony.
Keo Temple Festival
The yearly festival is celebrated from 13th to 15th
of the ninth lunar month, 100 days after the death of the Buddhist dignitary
Duong Khong Lo. The festival features religious and traditional rituals and
customs held in celebration of the Buddhist monk who rendered great merits to
the people and the country. The festival also hosts different traditional
cultural activities reflecting the life style, which is imbued with traits of
the Red River Delta’s agricultural culture. Keo Temple Festival attracts
hundreds of tourists in Vietnam travel every year.
Mid-Autumn Festival
Vietnam Mid-autumn Festival takes place on the 15th
of the lunar August, when the Moon is bigger and brighter than at any time of a
year (therefore, it is also called Full Moon Festival). Mid-autumn Festival is
the most exciting annual festival for children, because at this time, they are
often given toys and foods, such as masks, paper lanterns, star lanterns, the
dragon and lion heads, fruits and moon cakes… People also buy moon cakes,
fruits, tea, and wine for offerings to worship the ancestor as well as for
gifts to present their relatives.
The official day of the festival is 15th lunar
August, but it is often celebrated from 13th, 14th August, even the preparation
for this festival is a month before the official day. In recent years, a month
before festival, people can find moon cakes, toys, drums, masks, lanterns, and
lion or dragon heads in any streets. In Hanoi, Hang Ma Street, where people can
find a variety of decoration things, toys and stuff for the festival, is one of
the most crowded streets at this occasion.
Moon cakes (Banh Trung Thu) are the traditional food
of this festival. There are 2 kinds of moon cakes: “Banh nuong” is the grilled
brown cake and “banh deo” is white cake. They are both sweet and savory, with
many fillings, shapes and sizes, such as square, round, hexagon…, especially
pig moon cake, fish moon cake… Besides moon cakes, lion dancing (or dragon
dancing) is one important activity during Vietnam Mid-autumn Festival. Lion dancing
groups perform dances on the streets or visit houses and dance as a wish of
luck if the hosts accept them to come in. In the night of festival, children
are on the streets, wearing masks, carrying paper colorful lanterns, singing,
watching lion dancing, enjoy the full moon and dealing out mid-autumn festival
with cake and fruit.
Ngu Xa Village Festival
The village of Ngu Xa sits on a small peninsula by
the Truc Bach Lake in the Ba Dinh District of Hanoi. The name means five
villages. During the Le Dynasty between 1428 and 1527 people from five villages
in the provinces of Hung Yen and Bac Ninh, all migrated here. Their craft was
bronze casting and in searching for places to establish casting workshops in
the city, they eventually all settle here and form the new village of Ngu Xa.
The people were keen to remember their roots and where they had come from. The
original villages of Dong Mai, Chau My, Long Thuong, Dien Tien and Dao Vien
were never forgotten. They formed a professional organization called the Nhu Xa
bronze casting guild. Today, Ngu Xa Street stands to the east of the lake. If
staying in Hanoi on your Vietnam tour, it is close by and within easy reach.
They built a country style pagoda and a communal
house to maintain their lifestyle. There work is superb, bronze statues and
huge bronze temple bells are their specialities. They also make musical bell
instruments which are synonymous with Vietnamese culture. Their procedures
during casting are followed meticulously and the knowledge is passed down the
generations. In the centre of this village is the Thien Quang Pagoda, inside of
which stands a superb example of their work. The Buddha statue was cast in 1952
and depicts the Lord in a seated position with legs crossed. It stands 13 feet
high and the distance between the knees is twelve feet. It sits on a bronze
throne depicting 96 lotus petals and weighs an impressive 10 tons. The throne
alone weighs a further 1.6 tons. It is a tremendous piece and depicts a serene
looking Buddha with his garment folds, beautifully made.
The festival is a small affair, but worthy of a
place on any Vietnam tour itinerary. The famous Bat Cong Palanquin is carried
by thirty six strong youths and it moves around the village. The people
attending eat steamed rice and pig’s head meat. This is served in a salty soup
with bean sprouts. The bronze casters display their goods on long tables
covered by red table cloths. It is more by way of the villagers celebrating
their good fortune whilst at the same time paying homage to their roots and
ancestry.