Truong Yen Festival – Ninh Binh

Truong Yen festival is in honor of King Dinh Tien Hoang (Xth century) in Truong Yen (Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh province) on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month…
Truong Yen Festival
Truong Yen festival is in honor of King Dinh Tien Hoang (Xth century) in Truong Yen (Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh province) on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month. The festival begins with a procession of water taken from the Hoang Long river wharf and offered as a sacrifice at the Temple of the King (communal house). Popular entertainment is comprised of military manoeuvres with reed stems as torches, which recalls a game of the King during his childhood. Sixty school boys play in two armies called Thung Lau and Thung La. Those of the first camp wear red-bordered green boxer shorts, a green jacket and a palm hat. Those of the second camp wear the same shorts and hat but a white jacket. The child King wears the same shorts, a royal palm hat and holds a rush spike. The army of rush torches uses drums, gongs and clarinets made of banana leaves. The two camps open dialogue through songs, execute collective movements to illustrate the ideogram of Thai Binh (Universal Peace), proceed to the repression of 12 feudal lords (Dinh Tien Hoang’s military exploit), compete in a boat race, traditional wrestling, a rice cooking contest, and blind-man’s bluff.
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