The Vinh Khe Village Wrestling Festival is held annually at the Vinh Khe National Architectural and Artistic Relic (An Dong Ward, An Duong District, Hai Phong).
The Vinh Khe village wrestling festival has a long history, associated with the worship, remembrance and gratitude of the twin brothers of the Vu family, Vu Dao and Vu Sao, two talented and resourceful generals who contributed greatly to helping King Tran Nhue Tong defeat the enemy and save the country, and worshiping the famous general Pham Tu Nghi from Niem Nghia village, An Duong district, Kinh Mon prefecture in the past. The wrestling movement that the two men trained soldiers in has been deeply rooted in the lives of the people in the village and has been maintained from generation to generation.
To commemorate the merits of the tutelary gods, as well as to educate the tradition of patriotism and encourage the martial spirit of the nation, on the 7th of January every year, the people of Vinh Khe village organize a village festival and a traditional wrestling festival in front of the communal house yard. With a history of nearly 700 years, in 2018, the Vinh Khe village wrestling festival was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The unique feature of the traditional wrestling festival of Vinh Khe village lies in the competition rules which do not follow any existing standards but are entirely determined by the village rules. Accordingly, the wrestlers participating in the competition will not be considered in terms of weight class, age and competition time; the wrestlers will compete in 3 rounds with each round lasting 3 minutes to determine the winner; in case the end of 3 rounds still does not determine the winner, the wrestlers will move on to extra rounds. The person is considered the absolute winner when he or she defeats the opponent in a position where both shoulders, one buttock or both buttock and one shoulder touch the mat at the same time within 2 seconds.
This year's wrestling festival is attended by nearly 40 athletes from district and county teams of the city, athlete training centers and provinces and cities across the country such as Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa.
This year’s festival continues to be divided into two prizes: the prize for sports centers of provinces and cities and the prize for clubs and sports centers of districts in Hai Phong city with a total prize value of nearly 100 million VND. In addition to the prize from the Organizing Committee, the wrestlers also receive support and bonuses from the audience for their good matches and wrestlers.
Mr. Nguyen Trung Kien (An Dong ward, An Duong district) said: "Although I am busy at the beginning of the year, every year I arrange to attend the traditional festival of my hometown. I am very happy that this year's festival, although taking place in cold weather, still attracts a large number of people and tourists. Thanks to that, the wrestlers also compete very well and enthusiastically". Not only watching the exciting matches, coming to the festival, visitors can enjoy folk games and cultural and artistic programs imbued with national identity, at the same time worship, visit the scenery, and offer incense to the village's tutelary god to pray for health, peace, and luck.
