On February 4 (the 7th day of the Lunar New Year), people of Quang Long ward (Ba Don town, Quang Binh province) attended the spring opening festival at Tuong Son communal house.
This is a long-standing traditional festival, famous on both the North and South banks of Gianh River since ancient times, reflecting the spirit of solidarity and local cultural identity.
From early morning, villagers gathered at the communal house to attend the opening ceremony. This was an opportunity for the village elders to offer incense and pay tribute to their ancestors and predecessors who had contributed to the opening and establishment of the village.
The opening ceremony is meant to pray for a peaceful new year, favorable weather, bountiful harvests and successful children and grandchildren. After the ceremony, the elders perform martial arts, whip dances, and sword dances, demonstrating martial arts spirit and praying for prosperity and well-being.
After the solemn ceremony comes the festival with two main activities: the cu robbing festival and the wrestling festival. The cu robbing festival takes place excitingly on a large sandy field.
The field is divided into 2 teams, at both ends of the field, two bamboo poles about 10m high are erected, with bamboo baskets tied on top as targets for throwing the top. The 2 teams compete for the top and throw it into their basket, while the other team tries to find a way to get the top back and throw it into their basket.
The unique point of the game is that there is no limit to the number of participants, regardless of gender or age. According to folk belief, whoever wins the top and successfully throws it into the basket will have good luck in the new year.
Next is the wrestling festival, where wrestlers selected from the residential groups compete. The matches are intense and exciting with enthusiastic cheers from the audience. The sound of drums and gongs urging and the evenly matched matches add to the dramatic atmosphere of the wrestling festival.
