King ploughs field at festival

The spring plough festival to pray for good harvests took place in Doi Son commune, Duy Tien district, in the northern province of Ha Nam on February 9. Many officials participated in the event.
According to historical records, in AD 987King Le Dai Hanh visited Doi Son and ploughed field to pray for a new year with good harvest. Since then, kings went to Doi Son every spring to perform the plough rituals to celebrate agriculture.
This is the third year since the plough festival was resumed in Doi Son. Last year President Nguyen Minh Triet attended the festival and ploughed the field.
The festival used to be organized after the lunar New Year (Tet) holiday (the seventh day of the lunar year), with dragon dances, palanquin procession and offerings