The festival aims to preserve and promote the local intangible cultural heritage of Cheo Tau (Boat Singing), uphold the tradition of gratitude and remembrance, evoke national pride, and meaningfully serve the cultural and spiritual life of the local community.
Tong Goi Boat Singing Festival 2024. Photo: Tien Phong
According to village elders, the Boat Singing festival was first held in 1683 and, by tradition, was organized every 25 to 30 years- during years of favorable weather and abundant harvests in all four hamlets. Old records show that the last festival took place in 1922 before being interrupted by war. In 1998, the festival was revived, and today it is held every five years, from the 13th to the 15th day of the first lunar month, attracting large crowds from surrounding areas. Each year, Tan Hoi Commune and the Boat Singing Club also offer rituals at the Voi Phuc Shrine and Van Son Mausoleum.
Traditionally, the festival includes three main ceremonial parts: the procession, incense offering, and ceremonial worship. The festive section features fireworks, drum performances, art shows, Man Trong Hoi drum sequences, dragon and lion dances, and various folk games.
Elephant procession at the festival. Photo: Tien Phong
The most distinctive highlight of the festival is the Boat Singing performance, featuring antiphonal singing between two “boats”- dragon-shaped wooden boats that are symbolically rowed on land rather than in water. Each boat has 13 members: a Boat Lady (Ba Chua Tau), two Boat Leaders (Cai Tau), and ten Boat Performers (Con Tau). The Boat Lady is usually around 50 years old, a talented singer and dancer with a harmonious family life. The Boat Leaders and Boat Performers are unmarried girls aged 13 to 16 from virtuous, well-educated families, known for their good behavior and artistic skill. During the performance, the Boat Lady plays the thanh la (small gong), the Boat Leaders sing the lead, and the Boat Performers respond in chorus. Behind them are two symbolic elephants with two mahouts who blow horns as performance signals.
The songs in the Boat Singing performances include both solo and response pieces between the “boats” (tau) and the “elephants” (tuong), all praising the merits of General Van Di Thanh, the tutelary god of Tong Goi. The Tan Hoi Boat Singing tradition includes 20 melodies divided into forms such as Introduction Singing (Hat Trinh), Boat Singing (Hat Thuyen), and Walking Singing (Hat Bo Bo). The performance follows a precise ritual order: introductory ceremony, incense offering, wine offering, Bai Tau (or Bai Tuong), Hat Bo Bo, Hat Ly, and Hat Vi. Remarkably, all the ancient lyrics of the Boat Singing art have been carefully preserved by the people of Tan Hoi. Despite historical changes and challenges, the melodies and lyrics have retained their unique cultural value and continue to captivate audiences with their beauty and emotion.
Thai Hoa