Attractive village festival in Hai Duong

Transmission of folk culture

This year, the opening ceremony of Tan Co communal house festival (Tan Co village, Cam Phuc commune, Cam Giang) took place on Monday, February 19 (January 10). Mr. Le Duc Cuong (in Hoang Hoa village, Cam Dien commune) arranged his work early to return to his hometown to attend the festival. Mr. Cuong said that, except for illness or being too busy, he returns to his hometown Cam Phuc to attend the festival every year. "This is an opportunity for me to meet, chat and exchange with friends and neighbors that I normally don't have the chance to meet. At the festival, I feel like I've returned to my childhood when I can enthusiastically participate in folk games such as chess, tug of war, soccer...", Mr. Cuong said.

On the weekend of February 17-18 (January 8-9), Ms. Truong Thi Thuy (in Tan Binh ward, Hai Duong city) also brought her grandchildren back to her hometown to attend the traditional festival of Tung Son pagoda (in residential area 6, Phu Thu ward, Kinh Mon). During the two days of the festival, Ms. Thuy's grandchildren were able to watch traditional art performances such as cheo singing, cai luong, chau van...; watch the opening writing ceremony and eat vegetarian food at the pagoda. "In previous years, the festival was usually held on the day the children had to go to school, so I could not bring them back with me. This is the first time the children have participated in the traditional festival of their hometown, so all of them are happy and excited," Ms. Thuy said.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong in Duong Thai village, Phuc Thanh commune (Kim Thanh) is over 40 years old this year and has attended the Duong Thai communal house - temple - pagoda relic complex festival nearly 30 times. Ms. Hong said that every year when coming to the village festival, she clearly sees the traditional culture that is still nurtured and preserved through rituals and folk games. "The village festival is also an opportunity to connect the community, the village, so that everyone is closer to each other, knowing how to appreciate historical and cultural values", Ms. Hong said.

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According to statistics from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hai Duong has 818 traditional festivals each year in all 12 districts, towns and cities. The festivals vary in size, but most of them are village festivals and are mainly held in spring. Village festivals have two parts: ritual and festival, closely linked to beliefs, working life, the fight against foreign invaders and natural disasters of humans, often taking place at communal houses, pagodas, temples, shrines or sacred places to worship Buddha, people who have contributed to the country, ancestors of professions, and tutelary gods who have contributed to the village. "Each village festival has its own meaning and nuances, but in general, they all express belief in spirituality, admiration, remembrance of ancestors, people who have contributed to the village and the country, and the wish for a year of favorable weather and wind. Village festivals are also an opportunity to strengthen community sentiment and pass on cultural values ​​between generations," said Mr. Tang Ba Hoanh, Chairman of the Historical Science Association of Hai Duong province.

At village festivals, besides the ceremony, there is a festival with many unique activities such as dancing, love songs, traditional stage performances; competitions of talent and intelligence such as rowing, wrestling, martial arts, rice cooking, chess and games such as swinging, blindfolded duck catching, blindfolded goat catching, pot smashing, tug of war... In which, the people are both organizers, players, spectators and artists participating in performing, composing, enjoying and enjoying. Participating in village festivals, people have the opportunity to meet, exchange and chat with each other after hard working days. Therefore, village festivals are attractive to everyone, from the elderly to children.

In previous years, at traditional festivals, whether big or small, there were still sad phenomena such as: ostentatious and prolonged organization; superstition, begging, jostling; pushing, scattering loose change, burning votive paper everywhere; gambling, drinking; indecent dressing...

In order to “separate the muddy and bring out the clear”, in addition to strictly implementing the Central’s instructions, functional sectors and local authorities have focused on managing and organizing festivals. Localities strictly implement the work of ensuring security and order; building and propagating to the people to practice festival civilization... Therefore, the negative aspects of traditional festivals as well as village festivals in Hai Duong are gradually being pushed back. “In addition to historical, cultural and social factors, today, village festivals are also an opportunity to develop tourism and stimulate consumption. Therefore, localities need to pay more attention to managing and organizing festivals so that village festivals are still truly a need of the spiritual, cultural and religious life serving local people”, said Mr. Hoanh.