Visitors to Con Son – Kiep Bac spring festival
Flocking to festival
Coming to Con Son relic (Chi Linh) these days, we were immersed in vivid colors of festival flags, red flags, and banners. Many items had been refurbished, making Con Son seemingly wear a new shirt.
Con Son pagoda, Nguyen Trai and Tran Nguyen Dan temples, Ban Co Tien (fairy chessboard), Ngu Nhac mountain, Con Son stream, etc. from early morning were already crowded with people enjoying the spring and making offerings. Many of them used cell phones or cameras to save moments of the heaven and earth.
Despite large numbers of people and vehicles, there was not any traffic jam or disorder at two parking areas. Jostling and customer solicitation did not happen inside the relic. The system of shops was arranged along the sidewalks of the road to the pagoda.
Most of those coming to enjoy the spring and make new year offerings seriously observed regulations on burning incense and paper offerings and donating small change. Apart from hearing pieces of joyful festive music, tourists were frequently reminded to abide by regulations on relic and environment protection, forest fire prevention and fighting, etc. through the loudspeaker system.
“My family travel to Con Son – Kiep Bac at the beginning of every lunar year to attend the spring festival. This year, I find that the organization of the festival has been done very methodically. Services are arranged neatly. Visitors feel secure and comfortable. What impresses me the most is that the relic’s landscape has been beautifully repaired,” said 50 year-old Trinh Van Thanh in Thanh Binh ward (Hai Duong city).
Rich content
Since the Lunar New Year, many cultural and art activities and folk games have been organized at Con Son – Kiep Bac.
The stone yard in front of Con Son pagoda gate was animated with quan ho (love duet) singing locations. Not only enjoying the singing voice of lien anh (brothers) and lien chi (sisters) from Bac Ninh, many tourists also bravely joined the singing.
At three inner gates, the table set up since the second day of the Lunar New Year by the provincial Han Nom (Chinese and old Vietnamese characters) Club to offer words in early spring to visitors was always crowded. Adding colors to the spring festival were spots of modern Vietnamese calligraphy, portrait sketching, and traditional musical instrument selling in Con Son pagoda.
The 7th Vietnamese Poetry Day in Hai Duong province held on the morning of February 11 (the 12th day of the first lunar month) by the provincial Poetry Club was a delicious appetizer of this year’s spring festival.
Moved after reciting a number of fine poems and verses of World Cultural Celebrity Nguyen Trai and Venerable Tertiary Ancestor Huyen Quang, Tran Nhuan Minh, a Nam Sach-born poet, said, “I’m very happy to attend the poetry day in Con Son. I was also very touched when hearing Uc Trai’s verses and verses about the native land, seas, and islands on this very land.”
Following the poetry day was the Banh Chung (square glutinous rice cake) and Banh Day (sticky rice dumpling) Contest on February 13 (the 14th day of the first lunar month), which also created animation in the yard of Con Son pagoda right after the opening drumbeat.
The feast of Con Son – Kiep Bac spring festival has just begun. Tourists in the coming festive days will have a chance to wallow in unique traditional rituals, including the incense offering ceremony in commemoration of the 680th death anniversary of Venerable Tertiary Ancestor Huyen Quang, the opening ceremony of Con Son – Kiep Bac spring festival, the offering ceremony on Ngu Nhac Linh Tu mountain, and Mong Son thi thuc ceremony (requiem for forsaken spirits).
The festive part will be abundant with folk games, art performances, quan ho singing, calligraphy, etc. Particularly, along with the contests of traditional wrestling, banh chung and banh day, and earthen firecrackers will be specialties, contributing to making Con Son – Kiep Bac spring festival more jubilant and attractive.
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