Praying for luck at Bac Ninh new year market

Visiting Am Duong Market Fair, which is held once a year in the northern province of Bac Ninh, is where people hope to meet with the dead and join them to get some good luck for the whole year.

The market, which lies next to a large cemetery, opens on the fourth night of the Lunar New Year and mostly sells black chickens, candles, lamps, and altar decorations.

Visitors to the market only use candles and oil lamps. Starting at dusk and lasting until the dawn of the next day, the fair connects people and souls to buy and sell luck.

People say midnight is the only time in the day when the alive and dead can meet. Relatives of the dead, therefore, took the time to "meet" their loved ones.

It is said that the market fair has been organised for many years, aiming to meet and pray for the souls of the dead soldiers who fell during a battle led by the Trung sisters. In AD 43, the Han Dynasty summoned Ma Yuan to combat the Vietnamese Trung sisters, who defended the country's independence. Ma Yuan's soldiers met Trung's army in Bac Ninh. A fierce battle broke out, claiming the lives of hundreds of soldiers.

Bac Ninh authorities restored the market fair in 2022 and has attracted lots of visitors.