Festival of over 200 years of fishing village in Binh Dinh becomes heritage

On December 12, the Department of Culture and Sports of Binh Dinh province announced that the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism has signed a decision to include the Van Dam Xuong Ly fishing festival in the list of national intangible cultural heritage.

The Van Dam Xuong Ly fishing festival is located in Nhon Ly commune, Quy Nhon city, also known as the Xuong Ly fishing festival. It was born more than 200 years ago and is one of the long-standing traditional festivals associated with the life of coastal fishermen in Binh Dinh.

The festival is a memory of the space of fishing on the sea, containing the cultural beliefs of fishermen in the sea through many stages in the historical process. Every year, on the 9th and 10th of the first lunar month, at Lang Ong   Nam Hai in Ly Chanh village performs the Van Dam Xuong Ly fishing festival, with the ritual of welcoming the Nam Hai god to the temple. After the ceremony, village festival activities will take place.

A corner of Nhon Ly fishing village. Photo: Van Ngoc.

According to cultural researcher Nguyen Van Ngoc, the festival clearly shows the connection between the present and the past and the vitality spreading in the future through activities, is an opportunity for people to understand more about the seaport land at that time and the role of Van Dam in the economic and cultural life of Binh Dinh over the centuries, once a stopover on the "silk road" at sea, once a Cham fishing village and today a fishing village with many cultural sediments, the fishing classes always show responsibility to preserve and promote.

The festival is a memory of the space of fishing at sea, containing the cultural beliefs of fishermen in the coastal area. Photo: Van Ngoc.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Van - Vice Chairman of Nhon Ly Commune People's Committee - said that this is a traditional fishing festival that has existed since ancient times and is preserved and organized by fishermen every year to pray for a year of favorable weather, abundant shrimp and fish at sea, safe sailing for boats, full holds of shrimp and fish when returning to port, and a prosperous life for fishermen.

After the ceremony is the festival with folk games associated with coastal fishermen such as boat racing, rowing, swimming... and especially indispensable are tuong and bai choi singing (usually taking place for 7-8 nights). Source: https://tienphong.vn/le-hoi-tren-200-nam-lang-chai-o-binh-dinh-thanh-di-san-post1699758.tpo