Traditional Banh Day festival in Sam Son

Local people in Sam Son town of the north-central province of Thanh Hoa held their traditional Banh Day (round shaped rice cake) festival on June 23 (the 12th day of the fifth lunar month) as part of the 2010 Sam Son Tourism Season.
Early in the morning, villagers of five wards in Sam Son town took part in a sedan procession around major streets and converged on Doc Cuoc Temple where the official ritual was held.
The master of ceremony delivered a speech commemorating the ancestors who reclaimed and built the present-day Sam Son town, and prayed for good weather and big catches of aquatic products.
After the ritual, local people and visitors enjoyed performances, including walking on stilt, tug of war, and a Banh Day making contest among people from 7 villages in the town.
So far this year, Sam Son has welcomed more than 700,000 visitors, meeting 50 percent of its annual plan. The town is expected to attract large numbers of holiday-makers in the next two months when the tourism season reaches its peak.