Festivals in Hue
Hue Festival
Hue Festival is an international cultural event which is held after every two years in Hue in order to commemorate its inestimable contents. In 1992, the first Hue Festival took place and was called French-Vietnamese Festival. After that it was christened as the “Hue Festival” in 2000.
The city’s cultural values are restored by largest Vietnam celebration festival such as the Hue through a variety of events within and beyond the city with community support. This encompasses The Night of the Palace, Nam Giao Worshiping Ceremony, Truyen Lo Ceremony, Ao Dai Festival, Sea festival, kite contest and human chess as well among others. In addition to this many traditional events were reorganized by the city along with the restoration of numerous traditional craft communities.
Normally more than 20 Vietnamese arts organizations take part alongside 20 international arts organizations in this festival. Every year at least thousands of musicians from around the world visit Hue performing up to 200 events at over 40 locations across the city. Competitions, fairs, science conferences and exhibitions run concurrently during the festival attracting millions of visitors. In 2006 alone there were a total number of one point five million domestic visitors and one hundred fifty thousand foreign tourists (www.eng.huefestival.com).
The wide range of artistic performances observed during Hue festival demonstrate how diverse countries participating have been throughout this great event. For example; performances from France, China, England Italy United States South Korea Brazil just but to mention a few reflect on cultural values present on all continents globally (Cohen et al.,2014). Likewise we also have performances by artists from Thua Thien – Hue’s sister towns like Quebec or Quanzhou Hawaii Nord Pas de Calais etc.
Cau Ngu Festival in Thai Duong Ha
Cau Ngu Festival is a one-day celebration in the village of Thai Duong Ha in Thua Thien – Hue. It is held on the twelfth day of the lunar year to honor Truong Quy Cong, the village god who taught people how to fish and trade.
The worshiping process begins the afternoon before the actual holiday and continues till midnight. A highly esteemed village elder guides the other community members through the procedure. Each owner of the fishing vessel dons a customary black ao dai and white leggings, along with a red scarf wrapped around their heads.
On the official day of the event, one man would worship first in order to seek blessings from God for the villagers: good health, good business, etc. He wraps a drumstick in a scarlet scarf and hits the drum three times to inaugurate the festival. On the garden of the temple, an elderly man dressed in traditional garb slowly enters the hall. He is accompanied by two men wearing red scarves who make hilarious motions repeatedly. Then, a string of drum beats is heard, and everyone takes their positions. An elder will stand in front of the largest altar and throw money and the revered food onto the yard for the children to wrap.
Simultaneously, the ship owners carry a miniature boat in their hands while sprinting around the children to the sound of cheering firecrackers. The children are compared to “fish” attempting to escape the fishermen’s net. The ship owners attempt to collect “fishes” until they catch enough to worship the village’s god. Then, some “fishes” are transported to the shore to be washed in the ocean, while others are traded. People purchase “fishes” and negotiate as though in a real wet market. After selling all of the “fishes,” the ship owners congregate in a predetermined location, such as the temple’s courtyard or a small pagoda, to joyfully share the money. People eventually reunite at the waterfront to observe a boat racing competition.
This simulation exercise and the entire celebration are how the villagers honor their cherished God. The Cau Ngu Festival has become not simply an unavoidable occurrence, but also a tradition-colored artistic performance.
