January, a month of festivals and feasts

Vietnam celebrates more than 9,000 local and national festivals that can be categorized as folk, historical-revolutionary, religious, foreign-origin, and cultural-sport-tourist.

They mostly have their origins in the north, according to cultural scholars.

The first lunar month is a “month of festivals and feasts,” according to an old saying.

The New Year marks the arrival of spring according to the Chinese and Vietnamese calendars, and people are eager to visit historical sites and temples and pagodas, go sightseeing, and participate in festivals.

Many of the festivals are aimed at invoking patriotism and solidarity among people and act as platforms to preserve and pass down the nation’s culture to future generations.

Some commemorate national heroes. The Dong Da festival in the north, for instance, pays homage to King Quang Trung’s glorious feat of arms against 29,000 Qing invaders from China in 1789.

Many of the festivals feature traditional sporting events -- like crossbow shooting and wrestling at the Co Loa Festival in Hanoi’s Dong Anh District, fighting, wrestling, and running at the Vi Khe Flower Festival in Nam Dinh Province and the Buffalo Stabbing Festival in Mo Hra village in the Central Highlands.

They also showcase traditions like singing love duets, weaving fabric, and many others.

In the south, most festivals are meant to worship ancestors and deities and seek their protection and blessings for prosperity. Like the festival on Ba Den Mountain in Tay Ninh province during spring which people attend to pray for a year of prosperity and success.

The southern celebrations also often feature ornamental flowers and trees grown by traditional trade villages.

Ethnic peoples usually have spectacular festivals -- like the Tay and Nung’s Long Tong and the Hmong’s Sac Bua in the northwestern region and the Kho Me’s Lunar New Year celebrations in the south.

Dong Da Fest

Co Loa Fest

Buffalo Stabbing Fest

Ba Den pagoda

Long Tong Fest