La Van Village Festival – Thai Binh

The La Van Village Festival is a traditional festival that celebrates the culture and history of La Van Village in Quynh Hong, Quynh Phu district, Thai Binh province, northern Vietnam. The festival is held on the 20th day of the third lunar month. The festival is said to originate from the ritual of taking to the field, which was later developed and enriched to become the festival of today, which reflects a miniature society with four basic sectors: the literate, the farmer, the worker, and the merchant.

The festival takes place at the Mien Village Temple, which attracts many pilgrims and visitors. The actors and actresses are young men and women from the village, who dress up in colorful and humorous costumes. The person who is responsible for guiding all the activities of the festival is a respected and healthy elder, who wears a solemn outfit with a pleated turban and a yellow court robe. He gathers all the performers to offer sacrifice to the tutelary god for the new year. After that, the entertainment begins. The performers are made up so fancifully, cutely, and funnily that when they appear, everyone bursts into laughter.