Trieu Khuc Festival

 The Trieu Khuc Village Festival is held from the 9th to the 12th day of the first lunar month every year at Trieu Khuc Communal House. It is managed, operated, maintained, and protected by the local government and the community of Trieu Khuc Residential Group, Thanh Liet Ward, so it is not much affected, interfered with, or influenced by other social factors. Therefore, the ritual ceremonies are held solemnly and reverently, attracting a large number of visitors from all over.

One of the distinctive and unique features of the Trieu Khuc Festival is the Bong drum dance and the flag-running dance… The Bong drum dance, also known as Con Di Danh Bong, is a ritual dance of a spirit-serving nature, expressing the gratitude of the Trieu Khuc village community and also serving as a way for villagers to pray to the saint to bless them with a new year of prosperity and happiness. According to legend associated with King Phung Hung gathering soldiers and stationing them at the site of present-day Trieu Khuc village. Originally, the Bong drum dance was performed to entertain soldiers when celebrating victory over the enemy; because there were no women in the army, the soldiers dressed as girls and danced joyfully. Today, those chosen for the Bong drum dance team serving the Saint must be men of good character, from respectable and harmonious families. During the performance, the dancers put on makeup like girls, wear a wooden headpiece over a bright red crow-beak kerchief, wear white clothes, and over their trousers wear a black crinkled skirt reaching to the ankle; around their neck they drape a small silk scarf shaped like a lotus leaf with stylized floral embroidery, with hanging five-colored strips; around their waist they tie a long green silk sash.

Besides the Bong drum dance, there are other dances that are also very famous and regularly used in the festival: the flag-running dance, the Senh Tien dance, and the dragon dance. The Senh Tien dance is a court dance that served kings and lords in the past; its flexible hand movements re-enact weaving, one of the traditional crafts of Trieu Khuc village. The dragon dance not only prays for favorable weather and a peaceful nation and people but also conveys educational content about the martial spirit and the tradition of remembering the source when drinking water, praying for prosperity. The dragon dance is grand, with many vivid and varied poses such as dragon greeting, dragon crouching, dragon paying homage, dragon soaring high and descending low, dragon curling, dragon gliding, dragon winding, dragon chasing the pearl, and dragon holding the pearl…

In addition, the Trieu Khuc Festival also has other entertainments such as Chinese chess, lion dance playing with a ball, wrestling, artistic bonsai exhibitions, and competitions in football, badminton, shuttlecock kicking, and air volleyball… The Trieu Khuc wrestling arena is also one of the famous wrestling arenas, attracting quite a large number of wrestlers from other places to participate…

The 12th day is the closing day of the festival; on this day there is a ceremony to dismiss the gathering, ending with a very unique flag-running dance. Legend has it that this dance originated in the battle of Phung Hung's insurgent army in the past. The dance takes place to the sound of chanting and drums, with groups of flags, dancing and running to create the momentum of military units going into battle and then gathering together into united strength that can defeat every enemy. When the ceremonies end, everyone sits on mats to enjoy the saint's blessings and pray for a new year with favorable weather and prosperity.

Organizing the festival is also a way for the people to show respect to their ancestors, who brought them a peaceful and prosperous life; it is also a way to promote Vietnamese culture to domestic and foreign visitors when they come to this homeland that still retains many ancient features. The Saint-worshiping ritual, the Saint procession, and the Bong drum dance and flag-running dance of Trieu Khuc village have become very famous and have many times been performed at cultural events and folk festivals of the nation and the capital Hanoi.