From March 8th to the 10th of the lunar calendar, people from all corners of Vietnam flock to the Hung Temple Festival in Hy Cuong Village( Lam Thao District, Phu Tho Province). This huge festivals is about mortality and gratefulness, adhering to the proverb “When drinking water, remember its source”. There are many activities such as a palanquin carrying contest, and a swing contest, a ball tossing contest, an aa-female rice pounding contest in one long mortar.

In nearby Tu Xa village, people start the festival much earlier, on January 12th. The festival in Tu Xa starts with the Tram Temple that takes place in Tram Temple. Participants ensure that performance is light-heart and humorous by mimicking traditional jobs” Si (Teacher or student), Nong (Farmer), Cong ( handicraft maker), Thuong ( businessperson), Ngu ( Fisherman), Tieu ( Wood collector), and Muc Tieu ( Wood collector), and Muc ( buffalo owner).

In the outskirts of Hanoi the Co Loa Citaldel of Dong Anh District invokes the memory of King An Duong Vuong. On the 6th day of New year, villagers come to the citaldel to honor the king. King An Duong Vuong is remembered mostly in legandsm, such as the story of the King’s magic cross-bow or prince Trong Thuy’slove affair with a My Chau princess.

In Tam Son Village (Tu Son District, bac Ninh Province) there is a Do pagoda festival from January 8th to the 12th, beside the usual festival activities, people also orgainize a procession that carries a female mandarin on top of a palanquin. Hunreds of villagers take part in this ceremory. Not far away, in Dinh Bang village, eight Ly Dynasty kings are workshiped in the Ly Bat De Temple Festival. This festival begins March 13th and lasts for five days. The main festival day is the 16th. According to tradition, there always three days of sacrifice and one barbe-cued buffalo served with trays, the buffalo and sticky rice trays are shared among all villagers.

In Ha tay, every first month od lunar year, there are groups of festivals to worship Son Tinh, the god of Tan Vien Mountain. Son Tinh was the first ranked god of the four highest immortal gods. Fromthe 3rd day to the 7th day, in Son Da village(Ba Vi District), there are two activities: the King trai festival procession and martial art practice. On the 15th day, at Va Temple in Van Gia hamlet (of Trung Hung Village, Son Tay) there is another festival procession for bring water from the Red River, From the 6th day to the 12th day of the new year, in year-organize by Son Dong village, all villagers organize a festival of singing folk songs, wrestling contests, and cross-bow shooting contests.

Beside all these Ha Tay festivals, the province also has the Huong Son Pagoda festival held in Huong Son Village, My Duc District. The Huong Pagoda Festival is unique in that it lasts nearly all spring. Huong Son is visually stunning, with streams winding through breath-taking mountain ranges and caves. Pagodas have been constructed inside these caves, thus bestowing cultural import upon the natural sites: Tuyet Son (Snow Mountain Pagoda), Tien( Fairy pagoda), and Giai Oan ( “Clear a False charge” Pagoda), Huong Tich cave is large and, after millions of years wator droplets, it is full of stalactites and stalagmites. People used to call this caves “The Dragon’s Mouth”. On the Huong Pagoda Festival’s opening day, the 6th day of new year, many belivers flock to Huong Tich Cave. Villagers offer incense to worship a mandarin of King Hung’s era, watch the dragon dace in Trinh Temple, climb nearby mountains covered in wildflowers, and row boats along Swallow Stream.

On the 4th day of the new year, in Duy Nhat Village (Vu Thu District, Thai Binh Province), there is the Keo Pagoda Festival.Villagers wel-come the springtime with sacrifices and other activities such as duck catching contest and rice cooking contest. Villagers also worship a monk names Thien Su Khong Lo.

On the 13th day of every year, Ba Trung villagers (Kien Xuong District) have a festival to memorialize the hero Trieu Quang Phuc (of the 6th century AD). The affiliated traditional games include chicken catching contests, rice cooking contests, lighting a fire fattest and biggest pig. The rice cooking is particularly spectacular. All contest participants light a fire and then climb a banana tree to retrieve a pot that has been placed up there. Contestants must then race though a field to get eater. Finally, the cooking begins. The pot of rice is hung from a bamboo tree of about five meters in length, Two men hold torches to cook, and one man balances the pot and cooks. Essentially, participants must cook rice while running around on the ground! Normally, it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to cook the rice. The most well cooked pot of rice wins the contest. The bowls of cooked rice from the contests are used for worshipping gods.

Festival time is a chance for Vietnamese to commemorate ancestors who died for the country and worship gods. But it is also a chance for leisure, to forget daily worries and simple enjoy spring and the New Year.