The only place to hold a festival to honor buffalo herders

After exactly 10 years of being re-organized, the Phong Le village shepherd festival (in Phong Nam hamlet, Hoa Chau commune, Hoa Vang district, Da Nang city) still preserves all the rituals with the special attraction of a unique festival in Vietnam.

WHEN THE COWBOY HERD IS THE SUBJECT OF THE FESTIVAL

From Than Nong Temple in Phong Le village, two fat buffaloes are led by two men in ancient farmer costumes. Following them is a group of people wearing traditional clothes, wearing hats, carrying palanquins, flags, etc. The stream of people moves along the concrete road through many residential areas, across fields before reaching Than Islet. That is an interesting scene of the shepherd procession ritual in the festival of the same name taking place on the 1st day of the 4th lunar month (May 8th this year). In the crowd of the festival that day, besides the elders performing the sacrificial rituals, there are also many children dressed as buffalo herders with lanterns in their hands.

True to the name of the festival, during the two days of the festival, the buffalo herding children are always placed in the main position. All the buffalo herding children and the dignitaries and elders in the village sit equally on the same banquet table without any distinction. True to the ancient custom, the organizers also delicately designed the ceremony of bringing the gods to the village temple to worship with the chant of the "chief shepherd": "We, the Phong Le shepherds, pray for good rice, good sowing, favorable weather, and a loud cry from the fields". At this time, the group of shepherds behind responded in unison: "Gia ha! Gia ha!" (sowing seeds in the fields), making the witnesses very excited.

Children in the role of ancient shepherds are honored at the festival.

The elders of Phong Le village recounted that, long ago, there was a mound of earth in the village. Suddenly, one day, when the villagers drove a flock of ducks onto the mound, the ducks' feet got stuck to the ground. Fearing that they would offend the gods residing in the area, from then on, the mound was named Than mound and no one dared to go near it. However, one day, a herd of buffaloes strayed onto the mound, and the children herding the buffaloes came to look for them but were unharmed. The villagers rumored that Than mound was reserved only for shepherds. From this thrilling story, the Phong Le village shepherd festival was formed and has been organized by successive generations as a way to honor the innocent buffalo herding children who contributed labor at a very young age...

"My grandparents' family also farmed, so I often followed them to the fields and rode on the backs of buffaloes. I understood that the fields give us crops, give us rice to eat, and herding buffaloes also has interesting games. In my hometown, there are not many children herding buffaloes anymore, so through the festival, I learned more about my hometown's roots," Ngo Minh Nhat (12 years old) shared.

REVIVAL AND ENHANCEMENT

Phong Le village history records that the shepherd festival was initially held in the years of Ty, Mao, Ngo, Dau, that is, every 3 years. Gradually, the festival was spaced every 6 years. The last time the shepherd festival was held was in the 11th year of Bao Dai (1936). It was not until more than 70 years later, in 2007, that the festival was restored with the support of the Vietnam Folk Arts Association and the contributions of local people. The second time was held in 2010, hosted by the Department of Culture and Sports of Da Nang City. The third time was held in 2014 (April 4th of the lunar calendar) organized by the villagers themselves. Since then, it has been exactly 10 years, the shepherd festival has returned with many special programs, organized by the People's Committee of Hoa Vang District in coordination with the People's Committee of Hoa Chau Commune.

The buffalo was brought to the festival by local people.

The festival is organized with 3 ritual parts and 1 festival part, including: the procession of Than Nong from Than Islet to Than Nong Communal House; the ceremony of placing the god in the temple, the ethnic groups take turns entering the temple to offer incense, worship the god; the procession of Than Nong walking around Phong Le field and returning to the temple within 1 day. The festival part is organized with many games of the buffalo herders in the past, such as: hopscotch, tug of war, tube, jump rope, dragon snake up to the clouds, mandarin square... A special point is that at this festival, for the first time, there is a "shepherd's flag" competition at Than Nong Communal House. 19 clans based on the regulations of the festival organizing committee designed and decorated the flags to create a competition that is unique in form and diverse in content. In addition, there is also a shepherd singing festival to thank Than Nong for blessing the people with prosperity and good crops...

Nguyen Ngo Minh Ha (13 years old) shared that when he was selected by the organizers to attend the shepherd festival and participate in folk games, he understood more about the culture of shepherd children in the past. "In the past, when shepherds went to herd buffaloes, they were very happy and had beautiful childhood moments. The festival made me love and be proud of my homeland more," Minh Ha said.

According to Mr. Le Duc Hung, Chairman of Hoa Chau Commune People's Committee, the 2024 shepherd procession associated with Than Nong communal house (recognized as a city-level historical and cultural relic in 2007) has attempted to fully recreate ancient rituals as well as associated with the task of piloting the construction of Phong Nam village (Phong Le village) to become a "characteristic cultural village".

Elders perform worship rituals at Than Islet

Currently, Hoa Chau commune is investing in building a house displaying agricultural tools in Phong Le village as well as planning and renovating the cultural space, relics and heritage associated with the tradition of this unique festival. Accordingly, the shepherd festival is expected to be held every 3 years as before to recreate the traditional cultural space, promote and attract tourists to the countryside of Hoa Vang. (continued)

Buffaloes are led at the front of the shepherd procession.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhung-le-hoi-doc-dao-noi-duy-nhat-mo-hoi-ton-vinh-tre-chan-trau-185241126233415658.htm