Tien Cong Festival

Tien Cong Festival The Fairy Cong Festival, also known as the "Receiving People" Festival, is held annually from the 5th to the 7th of January at Tien Cong Temple, Cam La commune, Quang Yen town, Quang Ninh province, to commemorate the Cong Tien Cong who discovered, exploited and established Ha Nam island. The festival was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2017. The morning of the 7th is the main festival day, a large number of people and tourists come here to watch the unique "receiving people" ceremony, unique to Quang Ninh. The ritual shows honor to the Immortals, bringing with it the culture of worshiping the elderly, rich in virtue, and blessed by heaven and earth to live long and healthy lives. Accordingly, old people who are 80 years old, 90 years old, and 100 years old will be able to sit on hammocks and be taken to the Temple by their descendants to worship the ancestors. Rituals and rituals to celebrate "Old Man Thuong's Life", "Mr. Thuong's Life Ceremony", and procession of "Mr. Thuong" correspond to those turning 80, 90, and 100 years old.  Tien Cong Temple is a place to worship 19 Tien Cong, they are people who live mainly on agriculture and fishing along the lake and Kim Nguu river, in Thang Long citadel and Nam Dinh province. In the 15th century, they and their families went down the Red River to the Bach Dang estuary, gradually discovering mounds, exploring, diking, and encroaching the sea to have the developed Ha Nam island region as it is today. This year's Tien Cong Festival is held at the town level, with 2 collective processions and 4 individual processions. In addition, there were more than 100 Elders leading the ceremony at Tien Cong temple. The organization work is carried out methodically, carefully, thoughtfully and meticulously. Mr. Ngo Dinh Dung, Head of the Culture and Information Department of Quang Yen town, said that 2024 will be 590 years since the Tien Cong openly cultivated and opened the land of Ha Nam island (1434 - 2024). The festival is an opportunity to review historical traditions, patriotism, national pride, and honor the Pioneers - the first people who built dikes, reclaimed the sea, established villages, and enlightened the Ha Nam island region; At the same time, it brings with it the ancient cultural values ​​of the thousand-year-old capital of Thang Long. This is also one of the activities of Quang Yen town to respond and celebrate the National Tourism Year 2024, implementing the annual working theme of the Quang Ninh Provincial Party Executive Committee "Improving the quality of economic growth; developing culture and people rich in Quang Ninh identity". Ms. Nguyen Thi Dai (84 years old, Ha An ward, Quang Yen town, native of Ha Nam island) shared that since she was a child she has watched the Fairy God Festival, this is an indispensable spiritual dish of the people of Ha Nam island, the pride of generations of descendants, a place to educate historical values, to remember the gratitude of the predecessors who worked hard to discover new land for the people in the region. She hopes to maintain her health so that when she is 90 years old, she can continue to be received at the ceremony. The Fairy Cong Festival in Ha Nam island region (including 8 communes and wards including: Nam Hoa, Yen Hai, Phong Coc, Phong Hai wards, Cam La, Lien Hoa, Lien Vi, Tien Phong communes, Quang Yen town, Quang Ninh province) has been preserved, preserved and promoted by the people for more than 300 years. Along with the "Human Procession" ritual, the Festival has folk games, human chess, tom whore nests, swing games, love song singing... ensuring rich identity and historical significance of the Immortals. The festival is rich in cultural identity, has value and meaning in educating the moral tradition of "When you drink water, remember the source", the tradition of dikes and irrigation; I am grateful to the Pioneers for openly breaking new lands.