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Spring festivals opened throughout the country

VGP – In the first month of the Lunar New Year of Kỷ Sửu (Buffalo), the month traditionally considered as “the period of amusement”, many festivals have been opened throughout the country, attracting both local residents and visitors.

February 01, 2009 3:40 PM GMT+7

The field-plowing ceremony is the opening of a new crop

This morning (7th day of the first lunar month), the field-plowing ceremony, an over-1000-year-old agricultural ritual, was opened in Đọi Sơn Commune of Hà Nam Province’s Duy Tiên District.

About 40,000 spectators eagerly watched buffaloes plowing the first furrows to start a new crop in the year of Buffalo.

The two-day ceremony aims at encouraging people to enthusiastically engage in production activities to enrich their families and the whole society.

Presenting votive offerings at the Temple of Nation Mother Âu Cơ

The traditional festival of the Temple of Nation Mother Âu Cơ was also launched today in Hiền Lương Commune of Hạ Hòa District (Phú Thọ Province), opening the tourist program "Returning the Origins" 2009.

A lot of visitors and pilgrims rush to Hương Pagoda during the festival

Yesterday (6th day of the first lunar month), the Hương Pagoda festival was started, attracting over 60,000 visitors. The longest festival, lasting until the end of the 3rd lunar month, is always a good chance for pilgrims to a Buddhist holy land (in Mỹ Đức District, Hà Nội) as well as to the nation’s cultural traditions.

On the same day, many other well-known and original festivals were opened in Hà Nội, including the Cổ Loa Festival (Đông Anh District), Sóc Temple Festival (Sóc Sơn Dsitrict), and “pig race” in Duyên Yết Hamlet (Phú Xuyên District) to honor national heroes and historical events.

Sóc Temple Festival

Yên Tử, another Buddhist pilgrimage center in the northeastern province of Quảng Ninh, is also an attraction in the new spring, drawing more than 100,000 from the first to the sixth days of the Lunar New Year.

By Hạnh Uyên