Leaders of the province and Bac Giang city offer incense at the Xuong Giang temple.

The event was attended by Bui Van Hai, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the provincial People’s Council; Than Van Khoa, Vice Secretary of the provincial Party Committee; and Nguyen Van Linh, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee; among others.

People flock to the festival

The annual event, the 21st of its kind, aims to honor the heroic tradition of the nation and commemorate soldiers who lost their lives during the historical Chi Lang – Xuong Giang battle. It also creates a spiritual culture space for locals and tourists from all regions in the country on the Lunar New Year.

In light rains, crowds of people flocked to the site ahead of the opening ceremony. Like the previous year, 13 groups of people carried flags, drums and palanquins from Tho Xuong, Hoang Van Thu, Da Mai, Dinh Ke wards to the festival venue.

Many elderly of the city attend the festival.

Dang Thuy Hien, from the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai, said, “this is the fifth time I have been invited by my relatives in Bac Giang city to attend the festival,” expressing her admiration at the scale and atmosphere of the event.

Xuong Giang Temple was inaugurated in early 2017 with a big space to host the festival. The meticulously-set performances by artists from Hanoi Cheo (Traditional Operetta) Theatre and Bac Giang Cheo Theatre vividly recounted the glorious Chi Lang – Xuong Giang battle. Delegates, local people and tourists attentively enjoyed art performances.

An opening speech by Bac Giang city’s leader underscored the significance and value of Xuong Giang Victory in 1427 led by Le Loi and Nguyen Trai which ended 20-year ruling of Ming invaders, regaining independence for Dai Viet. This important victory is considered strategic in the Vietnamese history of fighting foreign invaders. Concluding the ceremony, leaders of the province and Bac Giang city together with local residents offered incense in commemoration for soldiers who bravely fought on Xuong Giang land.

Joyful and healthy festival

Xuong Giang festival took place on February 21-22 (the sixth and seventh days of the Lunar New Year) with various traditional cultural activities such as calligraphy writing, love duet singing, ceremonial songs, folk games, chess and martial arts performances. On the occasion, the provincial museum partnered with the Bac Giang city Office of Culture and Information to hold a display of nearly 100 documents, images and artifacts relating to Xuong Giang historic victory. In particular, stone bullets, tiles, ceramic household devices and several royal decrees from the Le dynasty were also showcased.

Some local martial arts clubs perform at the festival.

Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Bac Giang city Nguyen Tien Dung, also head of the festival’s organizing board, said that established in October 2017, the organizing board devised plans and assigned tasks to each member.

Notably, the city worked with a professional and prestigious event organization agency to choose performances and games carefully to ensure the solemn, special and meaningful atmosphere of the festival, along with interesting festive activities that promote traditional cultural values and build national unity.

In addition, the city spent 7 billion VND (308,077 USD) building infrastructure facilities such as stone-paving of roads and plant pots in the relic site, creating an open, fresh and spacious area.

The organizing board also gave top priority to ensuring security and order, traffic safety and environmental protection, tasking authorized agencies of the city and Xuong Giang ward to take charge. Inspection teams were determined not to let any social evils take place. All aimed to create a safe and enthralling feeling for visitors during the spring festival.

During the festival, provincial and municipal leaders offered incense at the Xuong Giang temple and planted trees at the relic site in response to a tree planting campaign launched by Bac Giang city.

Tung Lam - Tuong Vi