VietNamNet Bridge – Tuy Loan Village in Danang City organized a communal house festival as one of the biggest spring festive events of Danang and as a traditional activity in the spiritual life of local residents.

A view of the banh trang (rice paper cake) baking competition

Tuy Loan Communal House was built in 1889 on 110 square meters in Tuy Loan Village, Hoa Phong Commune, Hoa Vang District, around 15 kilometers from the city’s center. It was recognized as a “National Historical – Cultural Relic” in 1999.

The communal house has brick walls with yin-yang roof tiles decorated with dragons made from pottery. The interior is divided in three sections. The wooden pillars against the walls are carved with floral designs by skilled artisans.

The house still preserves 20 honors decrees dating from King Minh Mang’s reign (1826) to King Khai Dinh’s reign (1924) and is well preserved.

On the ninth and tenth day of the first lunar month every year, people of Dong and Tay (East and West) Hamlets of Tuy Loan Village gather at the communal house to organize the two-day village festival, widely known as Tuy Loan Communal House festival, said Dang Cong Nhon, head of the management board of Tuy Loan Communal House.

The event features le sac phong (King’s honor ceremony) and other rituals to remind the villagers of the first ancestors of the five houses: Dang, Lam, Nguyen, Tran, and Le that obeyed King Le Thanh Ton’s orders to travel to the southern region to expand the country in 1470. The five ancestors then selected the area as their new land for settlement and named it as “Tuy Loan”.

If all ceremonies take place on the first day of the festival, the second day is for celebration with many activities such as boat racing, making banh tet (traditional Vietnamese glutinous rice cake), baking banh trang (rice paper), and many other folk games and music performances, said Dang Cong Ngoc, head of the organizing committee for this year’s festival.

Apart from being a signature festival of Tuy Loan villagers which plays a key role in preserving and promoting traditional cultural identity, Tuy Loan Communal House Festival is a key event of Danang City.

Tuy Loan villagers perform le sac phong (King’s honor ceremony)   A folk music performance at the festival.     Canadian visitor Eric Biron joins a boat race at Tuy Loan Communal House Festival – Photos: Tien Sa

Tien Sa

SGT