Eagerly attending Con Son – Kiep Bac autumn festival

The Festival Organizing Board, locals, and visitors hold the proclamation ceremony, the first activity of the festive season

Remembering the verse "Thang tam gio cha" (Celebrating father's death anniversary in August), pilgrims from everywhere annually eagerly come to Con Son – Kiep Bac (Hai Duong) to attend the autumn festival.

All approaches to Con Son – Kiep Bac relic site in Chi Linh provincial town are resplendent with flags and flowers. Any visitor to Kiep Bac temple, Thuong river dikes, and Nam Tao and Bac Dau mountains these days seemingly falls into a cultural space in bygone days. They are central places of this year’s autumn festival.

Tourists have ceaselessly flocked to the inner area of Kiep Bac temple to hold ceremonies. Thuong river dikes are crowded with festival attendees while boats are close to each other on the river. There are numerous buyers and sellers in Kiep Bac festival market where jars, mats, and conical hats are sold…

To decorate and create a unique space for the festival, the Management Unit of Con Son – Kiep Bac Relics has early erected more than 2,000 festival and red flags, hung 500 traditional lanterns in the two relic sites, formed tourism information posts, distributed introduction leaflets to tourists, and installed 10 frames of over 600 photos introducing cultural, historical, architectural, and festive value in both Kiep Bac and Con Son.

This year’s highlights are the 715th death anniversary of National Hero, Great Lord Hung Dao Tran Quoc Tuan and propaganda of the value of Con Son – Kiep Bac relic complex towards dossier submission to the UNESCO to request recognition of Yen Tu – Con Son – Kiep Bac – Vinh Nghiem as a world heritage site.

Hence, coming there, visitors will be immersed in a cultural space with special traditional ceremonies like a peace praying ceremony and a festival of flower garlands and colored lanterns on the Luc Dau river; incense offering ceremonies at Nam Tao and Bac Dau temples and Con Son pagoda; road processions, incense offering ceremonies, and sacrifice offering ceremonies at Nguyen Trai and Tran Nguyen Dan temples; a ceremony to offer sacrifices to Saint Tran on Mam Xoi mountain, etc. Besides, there will be the 5th Hai Duong provincial water puppetry festival, a hau thanh (going into a trance) performance festival at Kiep Bac temple, a traditional boat racing on Kiep Bac lake, etc.

The special road procession and pig and cake feast offering ceremony of residents of Duoc Son and Van Yen hamlets to Kiep Bac temple. File photo

Particularly, visitors will wallow in rituals that have formed a specific character of Con Son – Kiep Bac autumn festival. They include a road procession to offer live pigs and characteristic xu xue, trang gung, trong, loc, and mat cakes of residents of Duoc Son and Van Yen hamlets.

Pham Khac Khoa, head of Van Yen hamlet (Hung Dao commune), said: "People in the hamlet have prepared a pig weighing more than 50 kg and over 10 kg of rice and beans to make traditional cakes for this year's road procession. The hamlet has also arranged more than 100 people with traditional costumes, palanquins, flags, parasols, eight weapons, and kylin and dragon models to join in the procession."

The army festival on the Luc Dau river is always an event leaving impression, making visitors seemingly relive the time of ancestors' heroic national defense over 700 years ago.

"This year, more than 30 boats of fishermen in Kenh Giang commune will perform at the army festival. Contributing to the imposingness of the festival will be unique and special performances of more than 400 martial artists of Nhat Nam sect, double last year's number," said Nguyen Khac Minh, Head of the Management Unit of Con Son – Kiep Bac Relics.

This year, the Organizing Board will hold the seal bestowing ceremony on a large scale for locals and visitors. Traditionally, before the Saint's death anniversary, local authorities and temple custodians hold the ceremonies of affixing the seal on yellow silk pieces, asking his permission, and bestowing the pieces to visitors praying for blessings. The Organizing Board has prepared 30,000 seal marks for locals and visitors.

It is just the beginning of the festival, but numerous visitors have flocked to Con Son – Kiep Bac. Only on the weekend of September 19 and 20, there were more than 20,000 turn of arrivals in Con Son – Kiep Bac. On September 22 (i.e. the 10th day of the 8th lunar month), thousands of locals and visitors gathered in front of the curtain hung at the main door of Kiep Bac temple, respectfully offered vegetarian and meaty feasts, and held the proclamation ceremony to ask for permission to open the temple's door.

The great numbers of visitors to the autumn festival not only show the reverence, pride, and national self-respect of people from all walks of life for the ancestors with merits to the country but also indicate that Con Son – Kiep Bac has increasingly affirmed its position as a special national relic site.

Drums and gongs have sounded to open the festival!

NGOC HUNG – VU HANH

FESTIVAL PROGRAM In Kiep Bac - September 27 (lunar August 15):      + 7.30 am – 4 pm: Traditional boat racing on Kiep Bac lake - September 28 (lunar August 16):     + 9 am – 4 pm: 5th Hai Duong provincial water puppetry festival on Kiep Bac lake     + 2 pm – 6 pm: Offering of sacrifices to Buddha, the Saint, and Tran dynasty's council at Kiep Bac temple     +  2 pm – 4 pm: Incense offering ceremonies at Nam Tao and Bac Dau temples     + 7 pm – 11 pm: Opening of hau thanh performance festival at Kiep Bac temple's yard     + 11 pm: Seal opening and seal mark bestowing ceremonies - September 29 (lunar August 17):     + 6 am – 9 am: Road procession, ceremony to commemorate Great Lord Hung Dao Tran Quoc Tuan     + 9.30 am – 10.30 am: Army festival on the Luc Dau river     + 2 pm – 4 pm: 5th Hai Duong provincial water puppetry festival on Kiep Bac lake     + 7 pm – 11 pm: Hau thanh performance festival and closing at Kiep Bac temple's yard - September 30 (lunar August 18):      + 7 pm – 9.30 pm: Peace praying ceremony and festival of flower garlands and colored lanterns on Luc Dau river dikes - October 2 (lunar August 20):     + Sacrifice ceremony and death anniversary of Saint Tran at Kiep Bac temple and on Mam Xoi mountain In Con Son - September 29 (lunar August 17):     + 6 am – 7 am: Incense offering ceremony at Con Son pagoda     + 8 am – 9 am: Procession, incense offering and sacrifice ceremonies at Nguyen Trai and Tran Nguyen Dan temples - September 27 – 30 (lunar August 15 – 18):     + Musical activities at Con Son pagoda