VIETNAMESE CULTURE Traditional firecracker festival in Dong Ky village The festival, which is organised on the fourth day of the first lunar month and lasts for three days, in Dong Ky village in Bac Ninh province, about 30km from Hanoi . This festival aims to honour General Thien Cuong who helped Hung Kings recruit young villagers to fire on the enemy and was later considered the tutelary god of the village. Hundreds of villagers carried two massive representations of firecrackers, which were engraved with four mythical creatures (dragon, lion, tortoise and phoenix) to the communal house for the ritual. Four respected elders from each of the four hamlets in the village were selected to perform the ritual, praying for good weather, bumper crops and prosperity. To perform a solemn ritual, more than 400 people, including 300 unmarried men, are mobilised to support the procession. Folk games such as human chess, badminton, volleyball, martial arts and cock fighting are held during the event.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 11:21:31 +0000