The Dong Ky firecracker procession festival - one of the 15 national intangible cultural heritages recognised in 2016, opened in Tu Son district in the northern province of Bac Ninh on February 8, attracting thousands of locals and visitors.

According to the organisers, the best part of the thousand-year-old festival is the huge firecracker procession.

The festival is associated with the myth of Saint Thien Cuong, who fought Xich Quy invaders. It is organized annually in honour of Saint Thien Cuong’s glorious victory, who came from the Dong Ky village.

The two crackers used in the procession are made of wood and painted with gold lacquer. They are six metres in length with a diameter of 0.6 metre. The bodies of the crackers were carved with the images of a dragon, a kylin, a turtle and a phoenix with the hope of favourable weather.

Each cracker was decorated with one star-shaped end and a drum-shaped end and weighs nearly 1,000 kilograms. In the procession, each cracker was alternately carried by around 100 young men from the traditional cultural house to the ground of the communal house.

It took the Dong Ky villagers two months to prepare for the procession.

Besides the cracker procession, the festival also features other folk games like wrestling, cock fighting and Quan Ho love duet singing.

The festival will end on February 11.-VNA