Phu Giay Festival – Nam Dinh

Phu Giay Festival, also called Phu Day is held every year from the 3rd to the 8th day of the third lunar month, but the main day of the festival occurs on the 3rd. On the 6th day, people organize a procession from Tien Huong Temple to Goi Pagoda and a festival in which people stand in the shape of Chinese Characters on the 7th day. Those are the most typical activities of the festival.

The temple is dedicated to Holy Mother Lieu Hanh who is one of four immortal gods in the Vietnamese pantheon. The legend of Holy Mother Lieu Hanh is sung from one generation to another throughout the country, from the north to the south, from the delta regions to the mountainous areas of the country. It was believed that Phu Day was in the center of the homeland.

A unique cultural and religious activity at the Phu Day Festival is hat van and hau bong. This is a combination of music, singing, dancing and worshipping that is a typical ritual of Holy Mother Cult. During the festival, various games and entertainment activities are held such as tuong (classical opera), cheo (popular opera), xam singing performances, wrestling, tug of war, cockfighting and chess playing.