Pho Hien folk culture festival opens in Hung Yen province

The festival began with traditional rituals, including an incense offering ceremony, devotions, a sedan chair procession and dragon dances, followed by a wide range of festivities.

Activities include art performances, walking on bamboo bridge, tug-of-war, folk singing in genres such as a dao, xam, trong quan, cheo and ca tru, cock fighting and an exhibition of ornamental trees.

All the activities are taking place around the Ban Nguyet Lake, the heart of Pho Hien, a national historical site.

Besides folk games, visitors to the festival also have an opportunity to learn about the history of Pho Hien, with sites such as the Xich Dang Temple of Literature and the Bell Temple, which is dubbed the most beautiful Buddhist temple in the region.

There is also a Chinese assembly hall in Pho Hien as a vestige of a distant period when it was a busy port in northern Vietnam.

The Pho Hien folk culture festival is held annually, aiming to preserve and promote the traditional cultural values of this region./.