The Dong Ky firecracker procession festival kicked off in Tu Son town, Bac Ninh province, on January 31, drawing the participation of thousands of villagers and visitors.
A firecracker procession in the Dong Ky village's festival, Tu Son town, Bac Ninh province. (Source: VNA)
Bac Ninh (VNA) – The Dong Ky firecrackerprocession festival kicked off in Tu Son town, Bac Ninh province, on January 31,drawing the participation of thousands of villagers and visitors.
According to the organisers, the best part of thethousand-year-old festival is the huge firecrackers procession.
The festival is associated with the myth of SaintThien Cuong, who fought Xich Quy invaders. It is organized annually in honour ofSaint Thien Cuong’s glorious victory, who came from the Dong Ky village.
The two crackers used in the procession are made ofwood and painted with gold lacquer. They are six metres in length with adiameter of 0.6 metre. The bodies of the crackers were carved with the imagesof a dragon, a kylin, a turtle and a phoenix with the hope of favourableweather.
Each cracker was decorated with one star-shaped endand a drum-shaped end and weighs nearly 1,000 kilograms. In the procession,each cracker was alternately carried by around 100 young men from thetraditional cultural house to the ground of the communal house.
It took the Dong Ky villagers two months to preparefor the procession.
The festival was recognised as one of 15 national intangiblecultural heritages by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2016.
Besides the cracker procession, the festival alsofeatures other folk games like wrestling, cock fighting and Quan Ho love duetsinging.
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A firecracker procession in the Dong Ky village's festival, Tu Son town, Bac Ninh province. (Source: VNA)
