Vietnam is a country with long and rich cultures. Festivals are important facts of the year which vary from different ethnic groups. There are so many festivals held through a year: Do Son Buffalo Fighting, Mid Autumn, and Lunar New Year, etc. As for me, one of the most important sacred is Hung Temple Festival. The festival begins with a palanquin procession performed by three villages of Co Tich, Vi Cuong and Trieu Phu. The procession carries bamboo elephants and wooden horses symbolizing the submission of animals to the Kings Hung and the wedding of the Mountain Genie and Princess Ngoc Hoa. Banh chung (square sticky rice cake) and banh giay (round sticky rice cake) are indispensable offerings in the procession in order to honour the merit of the Kings Hung who taught people to plant rice and to remind people of Lang Lieu who invented these cakes.
The worship service is held on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month and commences with a flower ceremony with the participation of state representatives. Held in Thuong Temple, where the Kings Hung used to worship deities with full rituals, the ceremony is conducted with the traditional rituals representing the whole nation. The children of the Kings Hung throughout the country converge on the temple to offer incense. The procession includes the state representatives, one hundred young men and women in traditional costumes symbolizing “children of the Dragon and Fairy” and pilgrims.
The Term Paper on Vietnam: Lunar New Year Festival
Every country has its own important festivals which have the customs characteristics and the different meaning. Western countries have some holidays such as Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas,… Korea has Harvest festival (Chuseok), Buddha’s birthday (Chopail), Festival for servants (Meoseumnal),… Japan has Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival, Japanese Lantern Floating Festival, Miki Autumn Harvest ...
The procession marches are followed by a Xoan singing performance (a kind of folk song of Vinh – Phu region) in Thuong Temple, ca tru (a kind of classical opera) in Ha Temple, and other activities including bamboo swings, nem con (throwing a sacred ball through the ring), cham thau (beating bronze drum), dam duong (pounding rice).
Hung Temple Festival not only attracts visitors from all over the country because of its special traditional cultural activities, but it is also a sacred trip back in time to the origins of the Vietnamese nation. People usually show their love and pride of their homeland and ancestral land. This religious belief deeply imbedded in the minds of every Vietnamese citizen, regardless of where they originate. The Festival is so important that as the Vietnamese’s people sayings goes: “Dù ai đi ngược về xuôi
