Long Tong Festival

Long Tong Festival - Field festival of the Tay ethnic group in Tuyen Quang The Long Tong Festival is held from the 2nd to the 15th of the first lunar month (depending on the place) every year, with the wish to pray for peace and happiness for the country, people, and home; Good rain, fair wind, good harvest. The festival consists of 2 parts: The ceremony begins with the procession of the Tong ceremony tray, with the lion dance ("down to the field" dance) of young men and women. Tong trays are local products to offer thanks to the gods for blessing the local people with a prosperous and happy life. After that, the Priest (the main worshiper of the ceremony) and the assistant monks perform the ceremony of placing the Tong tray, giving thanks to heaven and earth, praying for prosperity and happiness for every family. At the end of the ceremony is the ritual of going to the fields (plowing the fields) with the hope that the lucky plowing at the beginning of the year will bring prosperity, wealth, and good harvests... Festival with folk games such as shuttlecock toss, tug of war and cultural and sports activities; displaying cultural spaces of ethnic groups, displaying giant shuttlecocks; Five-color cake making contest... creates a joyful atmosphere on the occasion of the new spring among ethnic groups in the province. The Tay ethnic group in Tuyen Quang province has more than 215 thousand people, accounting for 26.9% of the population. The Tong Tong Festival is a type of folk cultural activity, praying for a good harvest of agricultural residents who grow wet rice, expressing ancient fertility beliefs and combined with worshiping the village's Tutelary God, the God of Earth, those who have contributed to the country and founded the village... Long Tong is also a typical festival of the Tay people in Tuyen Quang province and has been recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage and has become a special tourist product during every Tet and Spring occasion.