Amidst the spring festive atmosphere, the locals as well as visitorsflocked to the provincial Chiem Hoa district for the age-old agriculturefestival, which is traditionally observed on the eighth day of thefirst lunar month to pray for favourable weather, bumper crops, andhappiness.
The annual event began with a parade ofnine trays of local specialties as offering to gods to thank them forgood crops and hope for a well-off and blissful life in the New Year.
It was followed by a lion dance performed byyoungsters, a Tich Dien (ploughing) ceremony, and folk games such as tugof war, stick pushing and cloth ball throwing.
Thefestival, which is also popular in other northern mountainousprovinces such as Bac Kan , Thai Nguyen, Cao Bang, Lang Son and HaGiang, has become a tourist attraction every Spring.
In addition to Long Tong festival, Tuyen Quang province boasts othernational intangible cultural heritage, namely Then singing of the Tayethnic minority group, “cap sac” (coming-of-age) and “Pao dung” singingof the Dao ethnic group.-VNA