An Chau rowing festival recognized as National Intangible Cultural Heritage

An Chau rowing festival is held on the 10th day of the 4th lunar month every year. It is a traditional festival dating back to the 15th century of the people of An Chau, Son Dong, Bac Giang .

The highlight of the festival is the reenactment of mountainous marine training, a proud tradition from the Le Dynasty.

The festival recreates and demonstrates the resilience and creativity of General Vi Duc Thang and the people of An Chau in training soldiers in river and flood crossing skills to protect their homeland and country against foreign invaders.

Ceremony to receive the Decision to recognize An Chau Rowing Festival as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The festival is held in the relic complex: Bich Tri Communal House, now Che Village Communal House, Duc Ong Temple and on the poetic An Chau River, upstream of Luc Nam River.

This year, the Rowing Festival has 18 teams, including 16 teams from An Chau town and 2 teams from Vinh An commune, with the participation of about 300 athletes.

Each boat is a team of 10 athletes including a helmsman, a commander and 8 rowers.

The teams will compete in the 1,300m distance. The qualifying round will be held on April 26 and 27; the semi-finals will be held on April 30, 2025; the finals will be held on the opening day, May 7, 2025, at Giang Wharf, An Chau River.

Ceremony of carrying the memorial tablet at the festival.

With the meaning and importance of the festival, on December 10, 2024, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism decided to officially make the An Chau Rowing Festival a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

According to historical records: General Vi Duc Thang was originally from Van Phan commune, Van Phan canton, Dong Thanh district, Dien Chau prefecture, Nghe An province. In 1407, the Ming invaders invaded our country, he followed Le Loi in the Lam Son uprising. After many years of leading troops to fight the enemy, he was a talented general with many achievements in successfully fighting the Ming invaders.

In 1427, he was awarded the title of Duke by King Le, one of the 18 founding generals of the Le Dynasty in the 15th century. After that, he was sent to the northern borderland to be the governor of the capital An Chau in today's An Chau valley.

Here, he had many great contributions in teaching people to reclaim land for agricultural production, training soldiers to guard the border and keep the country peaceful. The people built a temple for him called Duc Ong temple in Bich Tri village, later Lang Che village, now Vinh An commune.

Procession ceremony at the festival.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/le-hoi-boi-chai-an-chau-duoc-cong-nhan-la-di-san-van-hoa-phi-vat-the-cap-quoc-gia-post877965.html