Festival is an integral part of Vietnamese religious and cultural aspect. According to the statistics, more than 7000 festivals take place around the country. These festivals attract millions of pilgrims and tourists every year with their intriguing traditional ceremonies, rituals, and art performances.
The period after Tet holiday is our festive season because the weather is pleasant, warmer than the winter, and summer has not come yet. Let’s discover Vietnam through 10 most popular spring festivals.
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1. Perfume Pagoda Festival
Perfume Pagoda is a magnificent complex of Buddhist temples, shrines, and pagodas in karst cliff of Huong Tich Mountain. Huong Pagoda Festival is the longest and the most important spiritual event in Northern Vietnam and is worth visiting when traveling to Vietnam.
Perfume Pagoda – Hanoi
When and where does Perfume Pagoda Festival take place?
Perfume Pagoda is located in My Duc province, only 56 kilometers from Hanoi (about 1.5 hours drive). Perfume Pagoda Festival takes place from the 6th day of the first lunar month to the end of the third month.
What are the main activities at Perfume Pagoda Festival?
The primary part of this festival is not recreational but spiritual. The opening ceremony takes place at Thien Tru Pagoda where incense ceremony is held. When visiting Huong Pagoda, Vietnamese people bring a generous tray of offerings for the Buddha and pray that their wishes will come true.
Boat cruise along Yen Stream
Cruising along Yen Stream and enjoying the breath-taking scenery of limestone mountains and emerald rice paddies will the most intriguing part of your trip to Huong Pagoda. Moreover, you can get the whole spectacular view of Huong Tich Cave from cable car or you can challenge yourself by climbing and conquering it. Huong Pagoda is very suitable for a 1-day tour to discover our Buddhist rituals in Vietnam.
2. Giong Festival
Giong is our national hero and this event is held every year so that we can express our gratitude for his achievement to our country’s independence.
Giong Festival
When and where does Giong Festival take place?
Giong Festival takes place in the 6th day of the first lunar month at Giong Temple (Phu Linh, Soc Son, Ha Noi) and the 9th day of the fourth lunar month at Phu Dong Temple (Gia Lam, Ha Noi).
What is the story behind Giong Festival?
Legend said that under the 6th Hung King Dynasty, there was an old and childless couple living in Giong village. One day, the wife came across a giant footprint and she tried to put her foot on it. After that, she was pregnant and born a son named Giong. The son could not speak nor smile even when he was three years old.
As the country was invaded by Yin dynasty in China, an envoy was assigned by the King to seek for candidates who could defeat the enemies. When hearing the envoy’s voice, Giong suddenly talked and asked him if the King could harm Giong. He grew rapidly into a vigorous man and defeated An enemies. Eventually, Giong and his horse are ascended to the Heaven.
The reason why we have two Giong festivals is that according to the legend, Giong was born in Phu Dong Village. Soc Mountain in Phu Linh is the last stopover of the saint before flying to heaven.
What are the main activities at Giong Festival?
There are many traditional games in this event, for example, human chess and cockfighting as well as art performances of cheo and quan ho.
3. Yen Tu Festival
Yen Tu is one of the most important religious sites in the North of Vietnam and attracts thousands of local and international pilgrims every year.
When and where does Yen Tu Festival take place?
Located in Uong Bi, Quang Ninh, the spectacular religious complex Yen Tu consists of 9,200 hectares with numerous pagodas, temples, and towers. This festival starts on the 10th day of the first lunar month and lasts until the end of the third lunar month.
What is the story of Yen Tu Complex?
Yen Tu was built under Ly Dynasty. However, it was not until Emperor Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308) that Yen Tu is the center of Buddhism in Vietnam. The King passed the throne to his son and established a Zen Buddhist sect called Truc Lam. He also ordered building many pagodas, temples, and monasteries in Yen Tu Mountain.
What are the main activities at Yen Tu Festival?
Dong Pagoda – Yen Tu
Sightseeing is the essential part of your pilgrimage’s journey to Yen Tu. There are 11 main pagodas along with a system of hundreds of beautiful temples and monasteries. One challenge for your Yen Tu Trip is trekking to Dong Pagoda which is 1,068 meters above the sea level. Flocks of local tourists come to this festival to pray for luck, health, and prosperity for themselves and their family.
Read more: The beauty of Yen Tu Mountain
4. Cau Ngu Festival
Cau Ngu is ‘fish worshiping’ in English. This festival is one of the most interesting festivals and organized by Vietnamese fishermen of the coastal community. The main purpose of this event is to worship ancestors for great fishing results, which represents our ‘When drinking water, remember the source’ tradition. Moreover, we also wish for peace and comfort when fishermen are working offshore. It is worth attending in your tour to Central Vietnam.
Cau Ngu Festival recognized as national intangible cultural heritage
When and where does Cau Ngu Festival take place?
Cau Ngu Festival is one of traditional festivals in many coastal villages in Vietnam such as Hai Phong, Hue, Da Nang and Phan Thiet. Cau Ngu is organized in different days in different provinces: 12th day of the first lunar month in Hue and 16th day of the first lunar month in Da Nang.
What are the main activities at Cau Ngu Festival?
At the beginning of the event, a palanquin procession will be held by a respectable elder for the ceremonial part. After that, many traditional games such as fish catching, beach-football, tug-of-war, and stick-pushing as well as Boi singing performance.
5. Lim Festival
Unlike other spring festivals focusing on spiritual ceremony, Lim Festival is a unique event when art performance of love duets – quan ho – is the highlight of this festival.
Artists performing traditional folk music at Lim Festival
When and where does Lim Festival take place?
Starting from 12th to 14th day of the first lunar month, Lim Festival is organized in Tien Du district, Bac Ninh province. The main day of this festival is on 13th January when you can see flocks of people gathering to enjoy Quan Ho, Bac Ninh’s traditional folk song.
What are the main activities at Lim Festival?
The most intriguing part of this festival is the singing contest on gilded dragon boats on Lim Hill. The singers will wear traditional colorful clothes. They will sing in pairs: one female and one male. The love duets (quan ho) is a signature folklore of Bac Ninh that you cannot find it in anywhere else. If the pair sings beautifully, they will get a cash bonus packed in red papers from the audience.
Traditional games such as bamboo swings, wresting, human chess; and competitions like rice cooking and weaving are also festivities that bring a lot of fun. Through these activities, visitors can understand the diversity of culture in Red River Delta region.
6. Ba Chua Kho Festival
Ba Chua Kho Festival, or The Lady of Stock in English, is one of the most popular festivals among business people in Vietnam. They come to Ba Chua Kho Temple, participate in incense offering ceremony so that they can ritually borrow money from the Lady.
Ba Chua Kho Festival
When and where does Ba Chua Kho Festival take place?
The event takes place in Ba Chua Kho Temple in Co Me Village, Vu Ninh Commune, Bac Ninh City, Bac Ninh Province on the 14th day of the first lunar month.
What is the story behind Ba Chua Kho Festival?
Vietnamese people honor the Lady of Stock due to her benevolence and patriotism. After marrying the Emperor of Ly dynasty, she asked the King to go to Vu Ninh area, gathered people to establish the village and expand the wasteland. She was the one to be in charge of food storage during our war with Tong Dynasty (China).
7. Tran Temple Festival
This is one of our national intangible cultural heritage which represents our wishes for luck and prosperity.
Tran Temple Festival
When and where Tran Temple Festival take place?
The main ceremony of Tran Temple Festival takes part at the midnight of the 14th day of the third lunar month in Tran Temple, Nam Dinh Province.
What are the main activities at Tran Temple Festival?
The purpose of this event is to honor 14 Kings of Tran dynasty and their famous victory against three Mongol invasions.
Seal opening ceremony is the main part of this festival and lucky seals will be distributed to visitors. Vietnamese people believe that there will be good fortune for our career advancement if we have the seal.
There are many fascinating activities at this festival such as lion dances, dragon dances, human chess and cheo (traditional opera) singing.
8. Ba Den Mountain Festival
This occasion is one of the biggest annual festivals in the South of Vietnam. Ba Den Complex is also a must-see attraction in your Mekong Delta trip.
Ba Den Mountain Festival
When and where Ba Den Mountain Festival take place?
Ba Den Mountain, located in Tay Ninh Province of Mekong Delta, is a popular place in a Mekong Delta excursion. The festival takes place across the whole first lunar month while the main ceremony is carried out in the 18th and 19th day of that month.
What is the story of Ba Den Mountain?
According to the legends, Ba Den (the Black Lady)’s real name is Ly Thi Thien Huong. She and Le Sy Triet, an intelligent and brave man, were engaged. They did not have time to organize a wedding since he was enlisted to Nguyen Hue’s army, who later became Quang Trung King. When waiting for her husband, Ly Thi Thien Huong was attacked by some powerful people. To protect her virginity, she jumped off the mountain edge and committed suicide.
To honor Thien Huong’s beauty and loyalty, people built a temple and organize a festival annually. You can go sightseeing on cable cars or trekking to the whole Ba Den Complex. On the top of Linh Son Temple, visitors can get the whole view of this beautiful complex.
9. Phu Day Festival
This event commemorates the goddess Lieu Hanh and the Mother Goddesses religion. This religion is honored in many provinces in Vietnam, however, it is the biggest and the most orginal among festivals in Phu Day.
Phu Day Festival
When and where Phu Day Festival take place?
Phu Day Festival only takes place within the Kim Thai Commune of Nam Dinh province. It takes places from the 3rd to 8th day of the third lunar month.
What are the main activities at Phu Day Festival?
The religious art performance of ‘Hat van’ or ‘Hau dong’ (chant singing and dancing) is the highlight of this festival. The singers have to follow the strict ritual custom rules depending on the roles they are playing.
10. Hung King’s Festival
Hung King’s Commemoration Day have been our public holiday since 2007. It is a chance for Vietnamese people, especially the youngsters, to remember the ‘When drinking water, remember the source’ tradition.
Hung King Festival
When and where does Hung King’s Festival take place?
Hung Temple, has its location on Nghia Linh Mountain in Phong Chau District, Phu Tho Province, is the place where Hung King’s Festival occurs. The festival takes place on the 10th day of the third lunar month.
What are the main activities at Hung King’s Festival?
The highlight of this event is the worshiping ceremony of Hung Dynasty – the very first dynasty that rules our country 4000 years ago. A procession will start at the foot of Nghia Linh Mountain and stop at every temple.
On this festival, hundreds of chefs gather at the temple to participate in Banh Chung and Banh Day (our traditional cake) making competitions. There are many other activities such as folk singing contest, human chess and wrestling.
Thank you very much for stunning information. Northern of Vietnam is really a festive land in spring. We’re gonna travel and learn from those places. Wishing you health.
Thank you for your comment. Wish you all the best.