This festival is associated with the legend of a tragic love story between a married couple.
Legend has it that the Xuan Duong Love Market has existed for hundreds of years, serving as a meeting place for former lovers or a place for friends to socialize.
The story goes that there was a husband and wife in Pac Sen village, Xuan Duong commune, who loved each other very much.
One day, the couple went to the field together; the husband cleared the weeds at the end of the field, and the wife tilled the soil at the beginning.
When the sun was at its zenith, the husband stopped chopping trees and clearing grass to call his wife home to rest, but he heard no reply from her, only the echoes of the mountains and hills.
He searched and searched but couldn't find his wife. When he reached the edge of the field, he only saw his hoe lying haphazardly, the grass and plants broken and crushed. Later, the husband learned that a passing official, seeing the beautiful woman, had ordered his soldiers to abduct her. The wife resisted and cried out desperately for help, but because the field was so long, her husband couldn't hear her.
Later, she had the opportunity to return to her hometown. The couple met, filled with mixed emotions of joy and sorrow, but they could only embrace and weep, unable to rekindle their old love because each had already settled down and started their own family.
Upon hearing the story, the villagers all expressed their sympathy. Moved by the love between the couple who couldn't be together, everyone agreed to let the former couple reminisce for a day, choosing the long rice field (called Na Ri in the Tay language) belonging to the couple as their reunion spot, which was the 25th day of the 3rd lunar month.
With its unique characteristics and significance, the Xuan Duong Love Market Festival is not only a place to reminisce about past loves but also a distinctive cultural symbol of the ethnic communities in Xuan Duong in particular and Thai Nguyen in general.
The highlight of the festival is the performance of the Nung people's Sli singing along the Bac Sen River. Sli singing is a form of call-and-response singing between men and women, usually performed by one or a few pairs of young men and women on festival days, market days, wedding days, housewarming days, etc. The unique feature of this folk song is its open performance space; it can be sung outdoors in markets, love markets, by streams, etc.
According to Luong Thanh Loc, Secretary of the Party Committee of Luong Thanh Loc commune, the love market is a way for culture to be transmitted naturally through community participation. Along with preserving traditional values, preparations for the festival are also being carried out comprehensively. From facilities, stages, and activity areas to stalls displaying local products, everything is being arranged and completed.
This year's Xuan Duong Love Market Festival features artistic performances recreating and reviving the traditional Love Market; Sli courtship singing at the riverbank; cultural exchanges between folk art clubs; volleyball competitions; and traditional folk games.
That evening, there was an art program called "Spring Gathering of Colors"; releasing floating lanterns; bamboo pole dancing, bonfires; and a fireworks display.
On May 11th, activities included folk dance performances; a competition for wrapping scarves and wearing traditional clothing; and sports competitions and award ceremonies.
On the morning of May 10th, the festival made a strong impression, offering many interesting and meaningful experiences for visitors from Thai Nguyen province and some neighboring communes of Lang Son province. The distinctive artistic performances in the opening ceremony were a testament to the vibrant vitality of traditional culture in the modern era.
More than just a cultural event, this is also an opportunity for the ethnic communities in Xuan Duong to work together to preserve and revive traditional values in contemporary life.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/thai-nguyen-khai-hoi-cho-tinh-xuan-duong-post961213.html
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