As one of the major festivals held at the beginning of spring, the Keo Pagoda Spring Festival (Duy Nhat commune, Vu Thu district) takes place from the 4th to the 7th day of the first lunar month of the Year of the Dragon. The diverse cultural activities during the festival offer many memorable experiences for visitors who come to offer incense, perform rituals, and enjoy the spring festivities.
Preserving the beauty of traditional culture.
As is customary, the opening ceremony of the Keo Pagoda spring festival is the solemn opening of the temple gates, a tradition that takes place every year with the participation of the villagers of Keo, from the elderly to the young children. This is a continuation of traditional culture under the roof of the nearly 400-year-old pagoda. In a sacred atmosphere, delegates, local people, and visitors from all over perform the traditional ritual of offering incense and flowers to commemorate the merits of Zen Master Duong Khong Lo, praying for a prosperous and successful new year.
Immediately after the opening ceremony and the opening of the temple, the festival activities unfolded in a variety of lively and diverse ways, such as drum performances, boat races with singing, races, and fire-making and rice-cooking competitions. Every year, the hamlets in Keo village send out four teams, each consisting of eight members, to participate in the races and fire-making and rice-cooking competitions. Among these, the two strongest, most agile, and most resilient individuals participate in the race. After the members complete three laps around the lake and fill the water jars the most, the race ends. At this point, the organizers select the winning team from the race, and all four teams then begin the fire-making and rice-cooking competition. Team spirit and seamless coordination in each step are the key criteria that help members successfully complete their team's competition.
As one of the experienced members participating in the traditional fire-starting and rice-cooking competition at the Keo Pagoda Spring Festival, Mr. Dang Van Chinh from the Dung Nhue team shared: "I've participated in the fire-starting and rice-cooking competition for 7 years, and every year I feel very excited. I feel that this village activity is like the beginning of a new year filled with good fortune, success, and prosperity. To prepare for the competition, the team members put in a lot of effort, from finding kindling to start the fire, selecting sticky rice, regular rice, and mung beans—all local products—to carefully shaping the clay to prevent the vegetables from exploding during cooking. Of all the steps from starting the fire to cooking rice, sticky rice, and sweet soup, the most difficult is making the sweet soup thick, smooth, and clear because the teams use manual cooking methods, so there's a lot of dust. Meanwhile, if there's dust in the sweet soup, the result is unsatisfactory."
With meticulous preparation and enthusiastic participation in every stage of the competition, including the fire-making and rice-cooking contests, the Dung Nhue team excelled and won first prize. Mr. Vu Dinh Nguyen, one of the village elders and a member of the team, shared: "Our team won first prize in both the fire-making and rice-cooking contests. Only the two first-place winners were allowed to bring their trays of rice to offer to the deities. I wish all the best of luck to the villagers and all the visitors participating in the festival. We, the people of Keo village, strive to uphold our traditional culture, and each festival brings us together again."
Besides the first-prize winning meal offered to the Saint, the second and third-prize winning meals were also selected for offerings. This is not only a joy for Keo village on the first day of spring but also a shared excitement for tourists cheering on the competition. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, a tourist, shared: "Every year, on the 4th day of Tet, I am always excited and eager to attend the festival, wishing happiness, peace, and prosperity to all families. I hope the festival will continue to develop, and that all people will be conscious of preserving the identity of their homeland."
Besides the running race and the fire-making and rice-cooking competition, this year's Keo Pagoda Spring Festival will revive the traditional puppet show honoring the deity on the afternoon of the 5th day of the lunar month. Mr. Do Ngoc Trung, Deputy Head of the festival organizing committee, said: "This is an ancient spiritual ritual at the Keo Pagoda festival. The organizing committee has researched many historical sources and is gradually restoring this ritual because it is a very unique ceremony in Thai Binh in general and Keo Pagoda in particular."
Tourists visit Keo Pagoda during the New Year's festival.
Encouraging a love of learning and respect for knowledge.
As one of the expanded activities at this year's Keo Pagoda Spring Festival, the "Opening the New Year with Calligraphy" program attracted hundreds of students, calligraphers, and visitors from all over. Regarding the significance of this program, Ms. Pham Thi Nhu Phong, Chairwoman of the Vu Thu District People's Committee, shared: "Opening the New Year with Calligraphy is a practical way to demonstrate the principle of 'Drinking water, remembering the source,' and the tradition of 'Respecting teachers and valuing learning' of the Vietnamese people. The program is organized to show the respect of future generations to their ancestors, and to emphasize the importance of learning and the value of intellect among the Vietnamese people."
At the program, 34 students who achieved outstanding results in provincial-level competitions were commended and rewarded. Trinh Anh Thu, a student from Vu Thu Town Primary School, said: "Every year I go to the Keo Pagoda festival with my parents in the spring, but this year I feel very proud to be rewarded for my academic achievements at the spring writing ceremony. I will study harder and strive to achieve even higher academic results."
Teacher Pham Thi Huyen Dieu from Vu Thu Town Primary School shared: "My school is honored to have three students recognized in the spring calligraphy ceremony. Teaching them directly, I feel very happy and proud, and I promise myself that I will strive to have more students participate in this spring festival. Participating in the calligraphy ceremony, receiving calligraphy blessings, encouragement, and gifts from the district leaders on the first day of the new year is a great encouragement and motivation for the students to strive and conquer the heights of knowledge."
Boats singing folk songs at the Keo Pagoda spring festival.
This year's Keo Pagoda Spring Festival, with its diverse ceremonial and festive activities, brought joy and hope to everyone on the first day of the new year. It not only instilled faith in continuing tradition but also helped young people today to love, be proud of, and want to contribute more to their homeland and country.
Tu Anh
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