Unique water bridge of Van village

The water wrestling festival (or mud wrestling) is held every four years in Van village, Van Ha commune, Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province from April 12-15 of the lunar calendar. The festival belongs to the folk belief of worshiping the Sun God of farmers in this land since ancient times. Previously, in 2022, the Van village water wrestling festival was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. We invite you to join Vietnam.vn to attend the 2024 Water Wrestling Festival in Van village, Van Ha commune, Viet Yen town (Bac Giang) through the photo series "Unique Water Wrestling in Van village" by author Do Ba Hung. The photo series helps you see the extremely vibrant and exciting atmosphere of the festival, attracting thousands of people and tourists from all over the world to attend. This is a unique festival because it is only held once every 4 years, is the pride of the people of Van village, and is a national intangible cultural heritage. The photo series was submitted by the author to the Photo and Video Contest "Happy Vietnam - Happy Vietnam", organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications .

The ball wrestling festival is held on the main yard of Tam Giang temple, about 200 square meters wide with a muddy surface, at both ends of the yard there are two holes to push the ball down.

The match was dramatic and fierce between the two teams.

The ball is placed in the middle of the court, the players rush to fight for the ball, the task of the two teams is to fight for the ball in the opponent's hand, move together to bring the ball to the opponent's court and then put it in the hole to win.

16 village men wearing loincloths and bare-chested were selected to participate in the water ball wrestling contest called the ball army, divided into two groups (Upper group and Lower group), each group had eight people. Once the ball was captured, the ball army had to quickly run to the opponent's hole, along with the fierce pursuit of the opponent.

The wooden ball weighing nearly 20kg is fiercely fought over by the players.

The bridge players try to drag the keeper of the bridge hole so that their team can place the bridge to score.

The water wrestling festival is meant to celebrate victory. At the same time, it also expresses the wish of the rice farmers for favorable weather, good crops. When the match ends, all the people come down to the field to "bathe in mud" and have fun with the two teams.

Water wrestling is a unique folk game often held during spring festivals and village festivals, associated with the ancient beliefs of praying for luck, fortune, and wealth. The ball here symbolizes the sun. Capturing the ball also means capturing the sun, capturing the sunlight for rice and potatoes - the top wish of agricultural residents. The Water Wrestling Festival is to recall the old story of the Saint's house going to defeat the enemy, an occasion to thank the Saint for giving the villagers a prosperous life. The Water Wrestling Festival is also to pray for national peace, bountiful crops, and a prosperous life. Not only that, it is also a sport to practice health and create solidarity among the people of the four hamlets of Van village... With its unique values, called "unique", in 2022, the Van Village Water Wrestling Festival was included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. In 2024, the Photo and Video Contest "Happy Vietnam - Happy Vietnam" will continue to be organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications in coordination with the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists on the website.   https://happy.vietnam.vn is open to all Vietnamese citizens and foreigners aged 15 and over. The contest aims to honor individuals and groups with positive information products, making practical contributions to the propaganda and promotion of a beautiful image of Vietnam to the world. Thereby helping people in the country, compatriots abroad and international friends access authentic images of the country, Vietnamese people, Vietnam's achievements in ensuring human rights, towards a happy Vietnam. Each contest category (photo and video) has the following prizes and prize values: - 01 Gold Medal: 70,000,000 VND - 02 Silver Medals: 20,000,000 VND - 03 Bronze Medals: 10,000,000 VND - 10 Encouragement Prizes: 5,000,000 VND - 01 most voted work: 5,000,000 VND The winning authors will be invited by the Organizing Committee to attend the Announcement and Award Ceremony and Certificate on live television of Vietnam Television.

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