Khau Vai love market festival

Each year, there is a market session on lunar March 27 (often falling on solar May), but it is not a farming produce trading market but a love market. The name and activities of the market have common things with love market in Sapa.

But what’s different is that Khau Vai is a love market for various ethnic minority groups from four mountainous districts in Dong Van Plateau and ethnic minority groups in communes adjacent to Bao Lam and Bao Loc districts of Cao Bang province.

Local senior people said that this love market dated back to 1919. Roads are now more accessible than the previous years, so more people come to the market. However, activities of the market are still rich in cultural identity.

A local myth tells the story of a young couple from different tribes who fell in love with each other. The girls belonged to the Giay group and the boy belonged to the Nung group. The girl was so beautiful that her tribe did not want to let her get married with a man from another tribe. Consequently, violent conflict arose between the two tribes.

One day, the boy witnessed an aggressive fight between the tribes as a result of their love. To stop the blood shed, the lovers sorrowfully decided to say goodbye. However, they made plans to meet once a year on that day, lunar March 27.

The place where they used to meet is Khau Vai, which thereafter became a meeting place for all of those in love.

In the market area, there are two temples called Ong and Ba (Mr and Mrs). A story tells that, once upon a time, there was a boy and a girl born in two different places of the Dong Van Plateau. The boy’s surname is Linh and the girl’s surname is Loc. They love each other very much despite being hindered by deep streams and high rock mountains.

Because their families prevented their marriage, they together came to Khau Vai, a prosperous land with rich plants which they could live on.

Although they did not have a child but they lived happily until they died. In honour of their merits in cultivating the wild land into a rich land, the local people built the two temples to worship them.

Therefore, on every lunar March 27, Khau Vai attracts couples of different ages, including those who seek their partners for the first time. However, most of them are those who love each other very much but cannot wed together because of many different reasons.

On the day when the market session takes place, it is likely that both the wife and her husband together go to the market but they look for their own partners to share emotions. If one of them has to stay at home, he or she is not jealous in love because the dating at the marketplace is really a faithful feeling exchange.

It can be said that the beauty of love is a basic factor to keep the existence of Khau Vai love market for such a long time.

With the assistance of Ha Giang Culture and Information Department, Meo Vac district and Khau Vai commune authorities hold the traditional love market of Khau Vai in order to promote cultural identity of ethnic minority groups in the locality.

The love market festival is held on lunar March 26 and 27 with the participation of a large number of locals. The festival features food and drink culture, song performances and folk games. Ethnic costumes, jewellery, ethnic musical instruments and culture and art publications are on display at the market, reflecting activities of the local people.

Thay Pagoda Festival

Time:From the 5th to the 7th day of the third lunar month, main festival day on the 7th day of the third lunar month.
Place: Thay Pagoda (Thien Phuc tu), Sai Son Commune, Quoc Oai District, Ha Noi Capital. Objects of worship: Buddhist monk Tu Dao Hanh - founding father of the water puppetry in Vietnam.
Characteristics: The procession of the worshipping tablet, water puppetry and so on.
Tu Dao Hanh was a Buddhist monk in the Ly Dynasty. He had outstanding merits regarding the popularization of the religion, the treatment of diseases for people and the creation of many games original to Vietnam, including water puppetry. The Thay Pagoda Festival is held on the seventh day of the third lunar month in remembrance of his merits.

Several days prior to the festival, Buddhist followers and pilgrims far and near flock to the pagoda, further adding to the boisterous atmosphere of the festival. The Pagoda is cleaned and incenses, candles lit, bringing about a charming scene.
The statue bathing ritual takes place before the opening of the festival. Buddhist monks and the people participate in the ritual. Pieces of red cloth are used to clean the statues. Those standing around solemnly hold their hands in front of their chests, whispering Buddhist sutras. When the ritual ends, the used water, the holy water the Buddha bestows, will be scattered all over the pagoda in a wish for bumper crops and prosperous life. The cloths are also torn into smaller pieces to divide among the people as they are thought to have the power of warding off the evils. The rite of cleaning objects of worship comes after this statue bathing ritual.
The procession of Tu Dao Hanh’s worshipping tablet takes place on the 7th day of the third lunar month, with the participation of four villages Thuy Khue, Da Phuc, Sai Khe and Khanh Tan. Covering under a yellow cloth, the colour of the outfits worn by those having supernatural powers, the tablet is carried by four representatives from the four villages mentioned above. Each village carries its own tutelary god’s tablet. Noteworthy is that in the procession the tablet and white horse of Da Phuc must go ahead those of the Thuy Khue. Normally the procession comes to the pagoda at twilight.
At the pagoda the ritual of presenting offerings to Buddha is held in a solemn manner to the accompaniment of musical instruments. The offerings in various kinds and different colours are out into the altar, looking impressive in the smoke of incenses and candles. Wearing fine outfits, holding sticks to which are decorated with flowers, Buddhist monks chant Buddhist sutras while dancing to display the journey of mankind in striving for noble things.

Among fascinating games in Thay Pagoda Festival, water puppetry stands out. It is performed at the Thuy Dinh House in Long Tri pond in front of the pagoda. Tu Dao Hanh is said to be the founder of this artistic performance.

Going to Thay Pagoda Festival pilgrims have an opportunity to revere the relics imbued with the imprints of outstanding monks and men of the past.
Source:(Vietnam National Administration Of Tourism)

Phu Day Festival

Time: From the 1st to the 10th day of the third lunar month, the main festival day is on the 3rd day of the third lunar month.
Place: Phu Day, Kim Thai Commune, Vu Ban District, NamDinhProvince.
Objects of worship: Princess Lieu Hanh - the Holy Mother.
Characteristics: The procession of the Holy Mother, Chinese character forming game, hau dong (seance - typical ritual of the tradition of worshipping Holy Mothers of the Viet).
PhuDayTemple is located in Kim Thai Commune, Vu Ban District, Nam Dinh Province. From NamDinhCity, one can reach Phu Day by car for 15 km. One can also reach it by train. The station is two kms from the temple.

The temple is dedicated to Holy Mother Lieu Hanh who is one of four immortal gods in the Vietnamese pantheon. The legend of Holy Mother Lieu Hanh is sung from one generation to another throughout the country, from the north to the south, from the delta regions to the mountainous areas of the country. It was believed that Phu Day was in the center of the homeland.
In the minds of Vietnamese people, the Hung kings are the ancestors, Holy Mother Lieu Hanh is the mother and General Tran Hung Dao is the father. The Vietnamese community is considered a family that has the same ancestors, father and mother.
Phu Day Festival is held every year from the 1st to the 10th day of the third lunar month, but the main day of the festival occurs on the 3rd. On the 6th day, people organize a procession that escorts “the Mother” from TienHuongTemple to Goi Pagoda and a festival in which people stand in the shape of Chinese Characters on the 7th day. Those are the most typical activities of the festival.

Marching in the van of the procession is a group of old women holding Buddhist pennons. They are followed by four teams of dragons, young men and women with eight weapons in their hands, a group of monks telling their beads.
Following the monks are seven palanquins. The Mother - the first’s palanquin is carried by eight girls in red costumes, Mother the second’s palanquin carried by eight girls in green costumes and Mother the third’s by eight girls in white costumes. A group of people carrying the belongings of the Holy Mother on their heads goes after the palanquins. The last are representatives and pilgrims. A Chinese character forming game that held on the 7th day of the third month is a unique performance of the festival. Participants have to practice so that they can stand in ranks in such a way as to forge Chinese characters “Mau nghi thien ha” (A woman whose virtue makes her the mother of the nation), “Thien ha thai binh” (Peaceful World), when they hear the signal from the flag commander.
A unique cultural and religious activity at the Phu Day Festival is hat van and hau bong. This is a combination of music, singing, dancing and worshipping that is a typical ritual of Holy Mother Cult. During the festival, various games and entertainment activities are held such as tuong (classical opera), cheo (popular opera), xam singing performances, wrestling, tug of war, cockfighting and chess playing.

Phu Day Festival is also a market fair where people sell local products.
Source:(Vietnam National Administration Of Tourism)

Don Village Festival to feature various activities, Dak Lak Festivals

A great many of unique activities are due to take place at the Don Village in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, said organisers. They said the festival would feature folk games such as buffalo stabbing, food and drink, and an elephant race. The Don Festival is expected to take place from March 22 to 26, 2006 in the Buon Don District, said director of York Don National Park, one of official members to join the festival. This is an annual traditional festival of the Don Village, which will also show visitors performances of gongs, UNESCO’s oral-transmitted and intangible heritage of humanity. Sports competitions such as football, volleyball and a dug-out canoe race will be held at the festival as well. So far, many central and local media agencies have registered to report the event. The festival is an opportunity for Vietnamese and foreign tourists to come and learn about the Don Village and York Don National Park of the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak