Gia Lac Spring Fair

Gia Lac Spring Fair Gia Lac Spring Fair, founded by Dinh Vien Cong Nguyen Phuoc Binh, is held annually in Hue city from the 1st to the 3rd of Tet. It has been a long-standing custom, to prepare for the Lunar New Year, the year-end markets on the 28th, 29th, and 30th are always filled with goods and crowded with buyers, especially fresh products that are often released the most at this time. Because, on the 1st and 2nd day, the market is not held, shops and stores are closed to have fun, visit, and congratulate each other in the first days of spring. But the Gia Lac spring fair goes beyond that practice. It is worth noting that this market does not hold all year round, but each year it only holds for three days of Tet, then disbands, and waits until the beginning of Spring next year to reappear. Gia Lac is a landmark in the center of Hue city 3 km, located about 300 m from the banks of the Perfume River. Next to Gia Lac market is Nam Pho market, and opposite on the other side of the river is Dinh market. These two markets are held every day and the market's name has entered the ancient folk song (Buy areca nuts in Nam Pho, buy betel at Dinh market) of the ancient land. Legend has it that Gia Lac market was founded by Dinh Vien Cong Nguyen Phuoc Binh - the fourth son of King Gia Long - during the reign of Minh Mang, over 170 years ago. At first, the market was established according to the king's wishes to have a place to gather for spring entertainment for the royal family and the number of townspeople, craftsmen, officials, and soldiers who for some reason did not return to celebrate Tet in their homeland. Gradually, the market became not only an attractive entertainment venue, but also a place to exchange and buy and sell other products and goods, and a place to sell some spring specialties. Some people go to the market to sell a few small things to get luck at the beginning of the year, and many buyers also have that mentality. Early in the morning of the first day of Tet, people from all over the world flocked to this empty land with makeshift tents set up next to the bank of the Perfume River. Sellers, buyers, and people going to see and go to the market (the largest group) look really bustling. Goods are displayed of all kinds. Anyone who has something they want to sell can sell it, from everyday household items such as bowls, betel pots, old tea sets, canned fruits, ready-made clothes to children's toys, cakes, fruits... like a kind of "flea market" today. A number of eateries promptly appeared, selling vermicelli, pho, especially the famous delicious roasted pork and veal dishes. Next to it is the place where card games, card games and other games are held. Guests coming here to enjoy the spring can try their luck at the beginning of the year with a game of hut, to hear the deep voice of ho thai, mixed with a bit of laughter, charming jokes, to anxiously wait for a lucky "next card", or to share the joy of their neighbors amidst cheers, cheers of delight, mixed with laughter and jubilant firecrackers after a round of playing to signal the results. Or, guests can enjoy specialties and special glasses of medicinal wine in the warm spring atmosphere. The vast majority of visitors to the Gia Lac spring fair, from old to young, from women to men, do not come mainly because of the need for economic exchange, but because of habit, because of a long-standing custom of having fun and taking luck as the main thing in the atmosphere of Tet, so everyone dresses luxuriously and neatly, walks and talks politely, does not make noise or raise their voices to each other, and does not compete to buy and sell paintings in a hustle and bustle like normal day markets. People who come to the market will buy some souvenirs, participate in some folk and entertainment games, enjoy a couple of chants, lyrical response songs, a couple of witty and satirical sentences in the warm, joyful spring atmosphere. Children come to the market to buy, or have their parents, siblings buy for them, folk toys: birds, chickens, a man riding a horse made of powder, a man with a big grin, an elephant, a baby bear, a fat pig with a place to save money, painted in many colors. Everyone comes here to have fun, everyone tries to maintain a proper style and attitude in behavior and communication to express the traditional culture of the ancient capital in the early spring. Gia Lac Spring Fair has existed for a long time through many historical periods, with ups and downs and changes in forms of trading, exchange, and entertainment. Until the early decades of the twentieth century, the games of cards hut, cards thai chair, and singing and repartee between men and women were still quite popular. After 1945, followed by two wars to liberate the country that lasted for 30 years with very fierce intensity, people's lives had many upheavals, so the Gia Lac spring fair was interrupted year after year, gradually fading away. Currently, the form of the early spring market here still exists, but life as well as people's psychology of enjoyment and entertainment needs have changed a lot, so the general atmosphere of the festival is no longer as exciting as before./.