It has become a custom and an indispensable ritual in the moment of welcoming New Year's Eve, every New Year's Eve, people in Dong Bong village (Tong Son commune, Thanh Hoa province) gather at the village communal house to participate in traditional rituals and ask for fire for good luck.
Recorded by Lao Dong Newspaper reporters on New Year's Eve of Binh Ngo Tet 2026, people in Dong Bong village were very excited and excited to go together to ask for fire for good luck.
According to the elders in the village, the custom of asking for fire for good luck - also known as burning Dinh Lieu - has existed since ancient times. Before Tet, young men in the village prepare and make a dragon effigy about 9m long made of dry, flammable plants.
Before the moment of New Year's Eve, people perform rituals, carrying fire from the temple area in the mountains to the village communal house. After completing the rituals, right at the moment of New Year's Eve, the sacred fire is lit into a dragon mannequin for people to ask for fire to bring home with the wish for a new year of peace and luck.
When the dragon burns brightly in the night, hundreds of people stand around, holding torches or small bamboo branches, waiting to ask for fire. Everyone hopes to bring "fire fortune" home to warm the kitchen, burn incense to ancestors, and send wishes for a new year of harmony and prosperity.
Images of people in Dong Bong village (Tong Son commune, Thanh Hoa province) asking for fire for good luck on New Year's Eve of Binh Ngo year 2026:
