Village festivals keep traditions alive

      Festivals take place in villages across Vietnam, the dates, duration, size and reason for the festivals being an entirely local matter.
Usually these are yearly affairs and in any given village the festival lasts from one to several days. Because there are so many of these events, and they do differ from each other, village festivals are quite interesting to outsiders.
Villagers during festival time are in high spirits while the festival also almost always includes some sort of solemn ritual directed towards a spirit or local ancestor, an action which is taken quite seriously by these villagers.
At a rural festival there’s bound to be song, dance and theater in the communal house, a procession of palanquins and a sacrifice of a living creature which is enjoyed by all.
At this time in Vietnam there are many well publicized national festivals. But, before the big push for increased tourism, village festivals usually took place in that one village or it perhaps included a few nearby villages that share the same belief in a local guardian spirit. Village festivals are an import event in the material and spiritual life of these village people.
Village festivals are an old custom and some were even engraved on ancient bronze drums. Perhaps the most well known and the most popular of the village festivals are the Co Loa Festival, the Le Mat and Phu Dong Festivals (Hanoi), the Lieu Doi Festival (Nam Ha), the Dong Ky and Lim Festivals in Bac Ninh Province, the Yen The, Xuong Giang, Thi Ha and Van Van Festivals in Bac Giang Province, the Ha Tay Festivals (now Hanoi), the Kiep Bac Festival (Hai Duong), the Dau Pagoda and Ba Chua Kho Temple Festivals (Bac Ninh) and the Keo Pagoda Festival in Thai Binh, plus there’s the boat racing event (ghe ngo) of the annual Moon Worship Festival of the Khmer people in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.
Generally speaking, there’s a profound community spirit that surrounds village festivals. It’s a kind of harmony, solidarity and wish for prosperity for the entire village by all of the villagers. The festivals involve an interpersonal warmth and neighborliness as people work closely together to make their festival a success.
Village festivals usually involve both a ceremony and a festival which is held in the communal house where an altar exist to pay homage to the village’s guardian spirit.
During the ceremony, villagers’ take the occasion to express their admiration and reverence towards Buddha, national and local heroes for example. The ceremony usually includes a solemn procession of palanquins and the sacrifice.
Then comes the boisterous festival. During the festival people engage in local cultural activities which is sure to include dance, song and competitions (of late there’s a human chess game played at the Xuan Phuong Village) which run from boat racing (the Dam Village Festival) to a rice cook-off (the Thi Cam Village) to loach catching (the Ho Village) to the interesting combo of a poetry competition and cock-fighting in the Buoi area.
At these festivals, many people perform, compose and relax after months of long, hard days of work, and both the rich and the poor get involved.
It is said that village festivals strengthen the bonds between the villagers and they are an occasion to reaffirm and pass on local cultural practices and beliefs from generation to generation.