Many activities will be held at Bich La communal house market festival during the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin.

Head of Bich La Dong Village Le Canh Phong said that since mid-December 2023, Bich La Dong village has made a plan to organize the Bich La communal house fair festival on the occasion of the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin - 2024.

Bich La communal house - where the annual communal house fair festival is held - Photo: NV

Bich La Communal House Market Festival is an annual traditional festival of the Bich La Five-Parcel on the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year. It has been recognized as a provincial-level cultural relic by the Provincial People's Committee and is being proposed by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to be recognized as a national-level cultural relic by the competent authority.

The purpose of the festival is to preserve and promote the traditional cultural identity of Bich La village from ancient times as well as create a joyful, healthy atmosphere to celebrate the New Year, respectfully showing gratitude to the ancestors who contributed to the formation and development of the village.

Legend has it that in the old days, in the deep lake in front of Bich La village communal house, there lived a golden turtle. Every morning on the third day of the Lunar New Year, although the weather was chilly and misty, the golden turtle often appeared early. That was a good omen for a year of favorable weather, lush vegetation, bountiful harvests, and a prosperous village.

To pray for all good things in the year, every year on the morning of the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year, people gather here very early to burn incense and pray for happiness and peace. In front of the communal house, Bich La villagers and visitors from all over join in the festival with drums, flags, bright lights, wooden fish, and gongs to wake up the golden turtle, swimming on the lake so that the villagers feel lucky, prosperous and rich.

Bich La communal house market festival has three parts: ceremony, festival and market, including the Kim Quy God praying ceremony held at 5am on the 3rd day of Tet; after that, many cultural and artistic programs and trading activities are held with products made by villagers to bring luck to buyers and sellers throughout the year.

The festival is held from 2:00 p.m. on the 2nd to 11:00 a.m. on the 3rd of Lunar New Year.

Nguyen Vinh

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