Ngọc Giả Village Festival

Location: Ngọc Giả Hamlet, Chương Mỹ Ward, Hanoi City

According to the convention of Ngọc Giả Village, the communal house festival is held once every 03 to 05 years with rituals and palanquin processions, taking place from the morning of the 9th day of the first lunar month to the end of the afternoon of the 10th day of the first lunar month. In ordinary years when it is not held, it is only called village affairs, with rituals only and no procession. According to the origin of Ngọc Giả Village Festival, it is held to commemorate the merit of the village tutelary god Quý Minh Đại Vương. According to surviving Hán Nôm documents such as the deity genealogy and royal edicts, Ngọc Giả Village worships the village tutelary god Quý Minh Đại Vương, a top-ranking deity – the god is the younger brother of Tản Viên Sơn Thánh. The god was a person of merit to the people and the country, helping the 18th Hùng King defeat northern invaders.

On the 9th day of the first lunar month, after defeating the invaders and returning to the court, he was permitted by the King to hold a feast for the troops and grant rewards to meritorious officials.

On the 10th day of the first lunar month, Quý Minh Đại Vương was strolling on Tản Viên Mountain in his homeland when he suddenly saw five-colored clouds flying toward him; heaven and earth darkened, and the four sacred creatures appeared from the sky. He then rode the clouds into the realm of immortal transformation.

The local people and household deities submitted a petition to the court. The King was deeply grieved for the god who had served the country, so he sent Định Thần to the place of his manifestation and ordered the people there to build a temple and perform rituals twice a year in spring and autumn. He conferred on him the title Quý Minh Đại Vương Thượng Đẳng Thần. The place where he transformed was made the main temple, and other places established communal houses and votive temples. It is an honor that Ngọc Giả Village Communal House has worshipped His Grace since the late 15th and early 16th centuries to the present.

Annually, the 9th day of the first lunar month (his transformation day) is taken as the grand ceremony to pray for national prosperity and peace, favorable weather, and a warm and happy life for everyone and every family. And the 10th day of the first lunar month is also the village festival day.

The traditional festival of Ngọc Giả Village is held from the 9th to the 10th day of the first lunar month every year. In even years or years of good harvest, the village holds a grand festival. The main festival day has the participation of two villages, Ngọc Giả and Long Châu Miếu. Long Châu Miếu Village is the elder village, and Ngọc Giả Village is the younger village. Starting in the morning of the 9th day of the first lunar month, people go to the incumbent village chief's house to receive the family vegetarian offering; in the afternoon, the village holds the yết ceremony; in the morning of the 10th day, the village carries the long đình palanquin to the village entrance to receive the palanquin of the elder village to the communal house for the hội đồng ceremony; in the afternoon, Ngọc Giả Village sees off the palanquin of Long Châu Village.

The palanquin-bearing team consists of bearers selected from young men in the village, aged 18 or older and unmarried. Offerings used on the village festival day are areca nuts, incense, fruits, cakes, chè kho, and glutinous rice wine, prepared by the people themselves. Those with a position in the village must contribute to the village according to regulations.

The chief celebrant is chosen from those of the ninth rank or higher.

If the ritual part of the village festival is held rather solemnly, the festive part is held joyfully and attracts a large number of villagers. Arts and sports performances are organized cheerfully and in unity, helping people exercise, have fun, and relax after tiring days of work.

Through the festival, people remember the merits of the saints and deities and preserve the good traditional values of the locality. At the same time, the festival is an occasion for villagers and visitors from elsewhere, as well as people living far from home, to gather, reunite with family and relatives, carrying the value of connection and reunion.