The water-carrying competition is one of the exciting activities at the 3rd "Golden Colors by the Nam Luong River" Folk Culture Festival in Bao Yen district in 2025. The competition is not only a fun activity but also carries profound spiritual and cultural significance for the Tay people.
Báo Lào Cai•01/05/2025
The location where the water-carrying competition takes place. Thirteen teams from villages and hamlets in Nghia Do commune started the water-carrying competition. The competing teams fetched water from the top of Ban Hoc waterfall. After traveling a long distance, the pure water is brought back to the starting point to be counted towards the achievement. The water, once brought back, will be boiled with various leaves, plants, and roots (traditional Vietnamese medicine) to make a drink to offer guests.
The competing teams also brought many types of traditional Vietnamese medicine, sourced from their home gardens and mountains, to introduce and promote at the competition. The red flag with a yellow star, carefully placed in the center of the table at the competition, is a beautiful image with great significance on April 30th. The Tay girl carefully prepares the ingredients for her team's presentation table.
The Tay women excitedly displayed and decorated their team's tea table. The teams presented their ideas about the table setting.
These cups of fragrant, delicious, and useful water, personally brewed by the locals, are offered to guests from afar as a message of good fortune, peace, and luck.
Carrying water is a traditional ritual, usually performed at the beginning of the new year, expressing respect for nature and a wish for a peaceful and fortunate life. The Tay people believe that water is the source of life, a symbol of abundance and inexhaustibility. The custom of carrying water at the beginning of the year is reenacted through water-carrying competitions, which also embody these sacred meanings.
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