Spring on the wrestling ring
Sinh Village wrestling festival (Phu Mau Commune, Phu Vang District) takes place on January 10. This is a traditional sport festival with a history of more than 200 years, which has been continuously maintained until now. At the wrestling festival, wrestlers are not unnecessarily locals, and any spectator can enter the ring.
Aside from the prize for the championship, the village also reserves a sum of money to reward all the wrestlers. Maybe because the conditions for joining in the festival are quite simple, in the past, before the village opened the wrestling festival, young men everywhere flocked to Sinh Village.
Sinh Village wrestling festival basically also applies the principle of traditional wrestling competition rules, wrestlers who want to pass the qualifying round must win against 3 opponents. To win, wrestlers must defeat their opponent with a blow getting the opponent to be on his back (that is to say, part or both of the opponent's back covered with dirt and his belly up to the sky).
If they pass the qualifying round, the wrestlers will enter the semi-final. In the semi-final, wrestlers must defeat one more opponent to reach the final round.
A few days before Sinh Village's wrestling festival, on January 6th, at Thu Le Village in Quang Dien District, there is also a wrestling festival. The feature of Thu Le Village's wrestling festival is that after the rite, the wrestling festival opens with the experienced and eye-catching performances given by the two elderly wrestlers in the village.
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, two years ago, the sports and wrestling lovers have not been able to immerse themselves again in the jubilant, vibrant and sporting atmosphere at the two wrestling rings mentioned above.
Happy spring on the river
In Hue, boat racing festivals on rivers are organized almost all year round. Those are boat races on the Perfume River during the big national holidays, Hue Festival, or boat races in flood season on O Lau and Bo rivers... And in spring starting a year, some localities in Hue also organize boat races.
Sinh Village wrestling, Vuc River boat races are the longed-for festivals
Every year on the morning of the 6th day of Tet, An Cu Dong Village people, Lang Co Town (Phu Loc District) and tourists far and wide flock to Lang Co Bay to join in the traditional cầu ngư (fish praying) festival and boat racing festival.
An Cu Dong is a traditional fishing village in Lang Co; people all year round are associated with the river job. Boat racing festival with a tradition of more than 300 years goes hand in hand with the daily life of fishermen and has become a cultural beauty of the coastal village.
Traditionally, the boat racing festival has 3 prizes: the friendship prize, season praying prize, and official prize. The friendship prize is to interact with and probe opponents. The season praying prize signals the start of the sea opening season. The official prize is the most important; the victorious team will successfully get a lot of luck in year, catch a lot of fish and do aquaculture.
The boat racing festival organized at the Vuc River (Huong Thuy Town) ahead of Ba Ho Temple on the 9th day of the first lunar month annually appeals to a huge number of people and tourists far and wide.
The Vuc River has beautiful scenery and charming rivers, once enjoyed by the kings and mandarins of the Nguyen Dynasty. This is also the place where locals often perform the sacrifice-offering rites to pray for timely rain and favorable weather, especially in years of prolonged drought. When it rains, they organize a boat racing festival with the significance of giving thanks to heaven and earth. Despite hundreds of years with many historical upheavals, the traditional beauty has been preserved by generations of descendants until now.
Thuan An fish praying festival (Phu Vang) according to the custom of “triennial organization” on the days from January 10 to 12. The unique feature of this big cultural festival is the performance of "praying for fish" right in front of the communal house yard, including performances such as pushing boats out to sea, fishing, netting, and trading in aquatic products… And the fish praying festival is followed by the boat racing festival on Tam Giang Lagoon right ahead of the communal house yard of Thuan An Village...
More than just sports
Wrestling and boat racing festival in spring days in the countryside of Hue are not only the sport activities but also the festivals with spiritual factors and folklore identity, praying for timely rain and favorable weather.
Therefore, these are festivals with the people’s nuances of happiness, optimism, and aspiration to conquer. The festival draws a large number of locals, tourists from near and far, who come and blend into the community atmosphere. These are also the copious “field photos” for photographers to take. Many beautiful photos showing the human beauty of strong, joyful lines were taken by photographers at these festivals.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it impossible for the festivals to be organized for the past 2 years. Last year, although the triennially-organized Thuan An cầu ngư (fish praying) festival was well prepared, it was postponed together with other annual festivals. At Tet of Tiger 2022, the wrestling rings ahead of the communal house yard, the green racetracks on the river have to continue to "take no action", getting the ancient capital’s people to recall wrestling, recall boats...
Story: PHI TAN - Photos: HAN DANG