Nghia Do: Attractive race of "bamboo legs"

On the morning of April 29, in Nam Cam village, Nghia Do commune (Bao Yen district), an extremely exciting and attractive stilt walking competition took place. The competition is part of the series of activities of the Nghia Do commune Folk Culture Festival with the theme "Golden color along the Nam Luong river" for the 2nd time, 2024.

There are 13 teams from 13 villages of Nghia Do commune participating in the competition. According to the rules of the competition, to be counted as an achievement, each team must have at least 20 members and a maximum of 30 people; there must be representatives of 3 generations: the elderly (over 50 years old), young people (18 years old and above) and teenagers and children (primary and secondary school age). The teams must ensure that they wear the traditional costumes of the Tay people and decorate their stilts beautifully. The teams compete in turn according to the order of the draw.

Stilt-walking teams strive from the starting point. Photo: Thanh Luan

The teams must go through a competition route of about 300m in length. Starting from the foot of the Nam Cam bridge, they will move on stilts on the Nam Cam stream for about 100m, then go ashore and walk on the road to the finish line about 200m away. The team that reaches the finish line in the shortest time and has the most people completing the competition is the winning team.

From early morning, people from Nghia Do commune gathered in large numbers at Nam Cam bridge and both sides of the stream to cheer for their village team and the other teams participating in the competition.

The shallow but rocky stream is not an easy challenge for athletes.

Many women participated in the stilt-walking competition, creating an attractive color for the race. Photo: Thanh Luan

After nearly 3 hours of competition, the Organizing Committee found the winning team was Lang Dap with 24 athletes completing the competition in 9 minutes and achieving a total score of 73. The second-placed team was Nam Cam village with 19 athletes completing the competition in 8 minutes, achieving a total score of 62.5. The third-placed team was Na Luong, with 11 athletes completing the competition in 6 minutes, achieving a total score of 57.5, winning the third prize of the competition.

Many athletes had to give up halfway because of losing balance.

Hoang Anh Tu (12 years old) from the Pac Bo team was one of the eight athletes who completed the competition. Tu happily shared: "Walking under the stream is very difficult. I am very happy to have completed my competition with the ladies, uncles and grandfathers. I practiced for about a week and learned how to walk on stilts and participated in this competition. Later, I will teach my younger siblings how to play."

Athletes who finish first must wait for the next member to finish the race before they can land.

Walking on stilts has long been a traditional game in the life of the Tay people. Stilts are a simple item, made of bamboo but useful for the life of the Tay people in the past. In the past, transportation was not yet developed, there were no bridges across streams, the Tay people invented stilts to make it more convenient when going through difficult roads, crossing streams... Especially in the rainy season or cold winter, when going through muddy roads, deep mud fields, using stilts to travel, work in the fields, hunt, raise livestock... became easier, ensuring safety for people.

As life develops, stilts are no longer used by the Tay people in daily life, but the Tay people still preserve, conserve and develop them into folk games in the main festivals of the Tay people (early spring festival, going to the fields festival, July Tet...).

After the competition, the athletes performed on the streamside road from the Monument Management and Tourism Development Board of Bao Yen district (in Nghia Do commune) to the check-in point at Muong Kem village.

Ms. Luong Bich Nguyet, a tourist from Hanoi, shared: During the April 30 - May 1 holiday this year, my family went to Nghia Do for a vacation. I stayed here for 2 days and enjoyed many delicious dishes, participated in many interesting cultural activities such as catching swiftlets, visiting agricultural product booths, watching duck catching, and fishing competitions. Today, I got to watch the stilt walking competition. I found Nghia Do not only beautiful and peaceful but also preserved many unique and attractive cultural features.

Mr. Luong Cao The, Vice Chairman of Nghia Do Commune People's Committee, said: The stilt walking game requires the dexterity and flexibility of the players. It is a combination of the legs, arms and body to create balance when moving. The stilt walking competition is organized to help people exercise and preserve the unique cultural identity of the Tay people, while also elevating it to an experiential tourism product to attract visitors to Nghia Do.

The Organizing Committee will award prizes to teams participating in competitions and sports tournaments within the series of activities of the Nghia Do Commune Folk Culture Festival with the theme "Golden color by the Nam Luong River" for the 2nd time, 2024 on the night of April 30, including: Fishing competition, stilt walking competition, swallow catching competition, men's leather volleyball tournament...

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/nghia-do-hap-dan-cuoc-dua-cua-nhung-doi-chan-bang-tre-post383469.html