On March 10, information from the People's Committee of Dong Hoang commune, Thanh Hoa city, Thanh Hoa province said that the unit had just sent a document proposing to the City People's Committee to include Cho Chuong festival in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
According to the People's Committee of Dong Hoang commune, implementing the direction of the Secretary of the Thanh Hoa City Party Committee at the working session on February 20, 2025 on preserving, promoting the value and proposing to recognize Cho Chuong festival as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Cho Chuong Festival, also known as Cho Muong Sau, is held annually on the 6th day of the first lunar month, in the alluvial area along the Hoang River (in Chuy Lac Giang village, Dong Hoang commune, Thanh Hoa city).
To facilitate people to come to the market, the local government has temporarily built a bamboo bridge connecting Thanh Hoa City and Trieu Son District. From early morning on the 6th day of the first lunar month, the young and old girls are excited to go to the dike along the Hoang River to "buy luck and sell fortune".
The main products in Cho Chuong are rustic food, including tomatoes, rice paper and chicken eggs. People come to the market without knowing each other, but every time they meet, they "sell" each other with tomatoes, eggs...
Even though tomatoes are thrown at people, everyone smiles brightly because according to the belief of the people here, the more tomatoes are thrown at people, the luckier it is.
According to the village elders, this market dates back to the Le Dynasty. According to legend, on the 6th day of Tet, a general was chased by the enemy and ran through here. To avoid detection, he ordered soldiers and villagers to gather at the market. When the enemy arrived, seeing that it was just a normal rural market, they were cautious. When the general issued an order to attack, the enemy was surprised, could not react in time and was defeated. To commemorate the general's merits, every 6th day of Tet, people eagerly come here to gather at the market, creating a beautiful local cultural feature.
To preserve and promote the intangible cultural values of Cho Chuong Festival, meet the religious needs and cultural enjoyment of the people, the People's Committee of Dong Hoang Commune proposed that the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa City, the Department of Culture, Science and Information consider and submit to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thanh Hoa province to direct specialized agencies to coordinate in preparing documents to include Cho Chuong Festival in the list of national intangible cultural heritages.
