Fish Festival: A Unique Feature at Tran Temple Festival

Fish offerings weighing tens of kilograms are a unique feature at the Tran Temple Festival in Tien Duc Commune (Hung Ha). Every year, when coming to the special national relic site of the tombs and temples of the Tran Dynasty kings, in the joyful atmosphere of the new spring, visitors from all over the world and local people enthusiastically join in the folk contest, admiring the talent of the artisans here.

People in Tien Duc commune enthusiastically participate in the traditional festival.

The unique point of the fish feast competition is that all 8 teams come from Tien Duc commune. With pride in the traditional festival in their homeland, people put a lot of effort into preparing elaborate fish feasts. At the Tran Temple Festival in 2025, the Nhat Tao village team had grass carp weighing 8.5kg, bighead carp weighing 6kg, and common carp weighing 6.5kg.

With more than 10 years of experience participating in the fish feast competition, Mr. Hoang Dinh Thuong, Nhat Tao village, excitedly said: We are very proud that our village is located on the banks of the Red River, so we are attached to the fishing profession. Every Tran Temple festival season, we participate in the fish feast competition to preserve the cultural traditions of our homeland. During the year, the selection of fish has been carried out, it must be the biggest and most beautiful fish that we can pull in the net, raised and cared for carefully until the festival day. The special thing when catching fish is to be careful and cherished so that the carp does not lose its whiskers, the grass carp does not lose its scales or its fins. The preparation time can last for many months of the year, but the processing and making of the feast is really elaborate. Each fish is prepared in 6 hours, fried in 4 hours, and decorated in a long time to make the most beautiful tray, meeting the spiritual and cultural needs and serving tourists from all over to learn about traditional festivals. The fish feast requires the participation of all villagers. Our wish is to pass on the craft of making fish feasts to all villagers so that they can preserve the cultural beauty of their homeland from generation to generation.

Having experience in preparing fish offerings at the annual Tran Temple festival, Ms. Pham Thi Thuy, Duong Xa village, Tien Duc commune, expressed her emotions when witnessing the joy of tourists watching the competition.

According to Ms. Thuy, the village convention is that even if they work far away, on the festival day, they put aside their busy work and focus on making fish offerings to the Tran kings. This is not only an activity to preserve traditional cultural beauty but also contributes to the development of spiritual cultural tourism in the locality.

Ms. Thuy said: To select fish to participate in the contest, the villagers have prepared since last year, grass carp must be bigger than bighead carp and common carp. Like the fish tray of Duong Xa village this year, grass carp weighs about 7kg, bighead carp and common carp both weigh over 4.5kg. In addition to the fish being selected and processed very elaborately, the tray also has dishes made from local products, and is decorated with betel leaves folded in phoenix wings. The villagers spend a lot of time preparing with the hope of having the most complete and beautiful tray to offer to the Tran kings.

The fish offerings of the 8 villages were only brought into the courtyard of the Trung Te Temple to participate in the fish offering competition. The competition began when the fish offering team with the prestigious elders in the village and commune, on behalf of all the people, read the prayer before the ancestors of the Tran Dynasty. The prayer prayed for peace and happiness for all people, favorable weather and good harvests. After the ceremony was completed, the competition judges began their work. At this time, visitors were allowed to approach the offerings to admire them.

Having attended festivals in many regions across the country, for Mr. Nguyen Van Chao, a tourist from Lao Cai, the Tran Temple Festival in Thai Binh left a special impression.

Mr. Chao excitedly said: I have never seen the fish dishes here anywhere. The fish have been processed and displayed for the ceremony, but they look very lively. We admire the skillful hands of the artisans in the villages of Tien Duc commune who have painstakingly prepared and made the fish dishes to offer to their ancestors. I was even more moved when I heard about the sincere hearts of the local people towards the Tran kings.

After processing, the fish has its original shape and keeps its swimming posture.

Mr. Phan Quoc Bao, a member of the Organizing Committee of the contest, said: It takes place every year, but the preparation of the villages for the fish festival is very thoughtful. The fish are all beautiful, decorated on the trays according to traditional customs. The success of the contest shows the solidarity of the local people, wholeheartedly devoted to the traditional festival of their homeland.

The fish offering contest at the Tran Temple Festival reminds everyone that the Tran ancestors, before becoming kings and ruling the country, were fishermen. This is a unique contest, bearing the traditional cultural identity of the ancient Long Hung land - today's Hung Ha.