Impressions from festivals and traditional cultural and sports activities in early spring in Gio Linh

In the early days of the Giap Thin spring, throughout Gio Linh district, many festivals and cultural and sports activities took place in accordance with the civilized lifestyle, cultural traditions of the nation and good customs and practices of each locality.

The traditional swing festival of Nhi Trung village attracts a large number of locals and tourists to participate - Photo: HA

Early in the morning of the second day of the Lunar New Year (February 11), a large number of locals and tourists gathered in Nhi Trung village (Gio Hai commune) to attend the swing festival. The traditional swing festival of Nhi Trung village is held on the second day of the Lunar New Year, every three years.

Mr. Nguyen Dang Khoa, Head of Nhi Trung village, said that right before Tet, preparations for the swing festival took place urgently and enthusiastically among the people. The important part of the swing festival is to choose swing poles from old, tall, and sturdy bamboo trees; then hang the national flag and the festival flag on the bamboo trunks; in the middle of the bamboo trunks, a sturdy rope is tied, and the swing rack is equipped with a safety rope to ensure the safety of the players.

Swinging is not only a sport, exercise and entertainment, but also an opportunity for people from all over the country to meet and exchange. According to custom, at the beginning of the festival, prestigious elders in the village, wearing traditional long dresses and turbans, represent the village and beat the first drum beats to open the festival; then they move towards the swing stand and climb up to mark the opening of the festival.

Participating in the game, players try their best to bounce strongly and swing as high as possible, the person who swings the highest will win. According to the rules, in each swinging festival, the person who swings high and touches the position of the lantern (about 7m) will win. This year's traditional swinging festival took place in an exciting and attractive atmosphere with colorful flags and flowers and the applause and cheers of the locals and tourists.

From the 4th of January (February 13), many festivals and traditional cultural and sports activities are held enthusiastically throughout Gio Linh district. It has become a tradition that every year on the 4th of January, the Center for Culture, Information and Sports organizes a table tennis, chess and calligraphy tournament in early spring.

At the commune, town and village levels, many football, volleyball, tug of war, stick pushing, boat racing tournaments have taken place to meet the needs of entertainment, recreation, exchange and sports competition for all classes of people. In the early spring of Giap Thin, localities always focus on organizing traditional festivals to preserve, promote and advertise traditional cultural beauty everywhere.

Notably, on the 4th and 7th of January, An My and Cam Pho villages (Gio My commune) held traditional festival. This year, the traditional festival in An My and Cam Pho villages was held in the spirit of the festival that existed more than 500 years ago. The traditional festival in early spring in An My and Cam Pho villages took place in an exciting and attractive atmosphere, attracting many local people to participate in the competition and hundreds of tourists from near and far to watch and cheer.

Also on the 4th of January, Hai Thai commune organized a card game festival and many folk games; Ha Loi Trung village (Trung Giang commune) organized a traditional swing festival... creating a joyful and bustling spring atmosphere.

Vice Chairman of Gio Linh District People's Committee Duong Duc Hanh said that before the New Year of Giap Thin, Gio Linh District directed and guided district-level agencies, units and People's Committees of communes and towns to develop plans to organize traditional festivals and cultural, artistic and sports activities, entertainment venues to ensure practicality, safety and economy; at the same time, directed and guided localities to develop plans and proactively prepare necessary conditions to serve tourists during the Lunar New Year.

With the close attention of the entire political system and all classes of people, traditional festivals and cultural and sports activities took place jubilantly, enthusiastically, and widely throughout Gio Linh district in the early spring of Giap Thin. This year, the festivals were fully organized, both the ceremony and the festival, in accordance with the spirit of the ancient festivals; cultural and sports activities were organized on a large scale and with quality; all classes of people actively participated in supporting and contributing materially and spiritually so that the festivals and cultural and sports activities took place successfully and impressively; security and order were ensured...

Thereby, creating favorable conditions for people and tourists to immerse themselves in the unique festival space and exchange, cheer and compete in sports, as well as enjoy the beauty of traditional culture, improve spiritual life, promote local tourism development...

Hoai An

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