As scheduled, the opening ceremony will take place at the historical relic of Ha temple, Minh Quang commune. Tan Vien Son Thanh festival still includes the traditional ceremonies: Incense offering at the relics of Thuong Temple, Trung Temple and Ha Sang Temple in Lunar January 12. On the early morning of Lunar January 13, communal citizens will hold water procession from Da River to make holy sacrifices.
Tan Vien Son Thanh Festival attracts huge crowds of people. Photo: the internet
Water procession ceremony is considered as one of the special highlights in the festival. Traditionally, at Rat hour on Lunar January 12th, two selected man and woman in Minh Quang Commune will ride a boat in the middle of Da river and collect water to the Temple to pay their respects to Tan Vien Saint. Following the ceremony is the festival with traditional folk games such as throwing, stilts, mountain climbing, pushing sticks, etc.
“ Tan Vien Son Thanh Festival is a unique culture of Ba Vi District in the strategy of developing the local culture and tourism. Ba Vi District plans to build and develop Tan Vien Son Thanh Festival as a regional festival like Huong Pagoda festival (My Duc), Hai Ba Trung temple festival (Me Linh) … ” said Mr. Do Manh Hung, Vice Chairman of People’s Committee of Ba Vi District.
Tan Vien Son Thanh Festival is a unique culture in the strategy of developing the local culture and tourism, emphasized Mr. Do Manh Hung.
Vice Chairman of People’s Committee of Ba Vi District Do Manh Hung informed at the press conference at the beginning of 2019.
In 2018, Ba Vi was granted a certificate in recognition of the national intangible cultural heritage for worshiping Tan Vien Son Thanh. One year after the recognition, People’s Committee of the District has drawn a plan to preserve and promote the value of the festival.
Cluster of Thuong Temple, Trung Temple, and Ha Temple relics are embellished with social funding of over 4 billion VND. The district will implement a plan to preserve over 100 relics related to the worship of Duc Thanh Tan Vien in the district.
“At present, the district tends to preserve and build Tan Vien Son Thanh Festival into a regional festival step by step, proceeding to file and complete the dossier and refurbish the processions aiming to submit to UNESCO for recognizing the festival as an intangible culture heritage of humanity” said Mr. Do Manh Hung.
Besides, Ba Vi also possesses its own strengths in tourism. In 2018, the district welcomed 2.83 million visitors, total tourism revenue is about VND 336 billion. However, that amount just accounts for only 12% of the district’s total revenue. Currently, Ba Vi is on the way to implement tourism planning, heading to develop tourism more intensively based on the local potentials. The district strives to welcome 3.2 million visitors in the festival and tourism season this year.
Thanh Hang