Top 8 Highlighted Cultural Events in February 2022

The traditional Vietnamese Lunar New Year, known as Tet, is a festive occasion marking the transition between the old and the new year. Although the moment of transition lasts only a few minutes according to the Lunar calendar, Vietnamese people celebrate Tet for several days.

During Tet, regardless of how far they are from home, Vietnamese people strive to return to their hometowns to reunite with family and welcome the new year together. Subsequently, during the Tet days, Vietnamese people set aside work to relax, enjoy themselves, and visit each other to exchange Tet greetings.

Various festivals are organized during Tet, each reflecting the unique characteristics of different regions. Additionally, Vietnamese people prepare traditional Tet foods such as Chung cake, Tet cake, various Tet preserves, and Tet sweets. Peach blossoms and apricot blossoms are commonly displayed during Tet, not only to beautify homes but also to symbolize the traditional spirit of the Vietnamese people. Beyond bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new one, Tet also holds the significance of family reunion, gathering, and joyful meetings.

Valentine's Day (also known as Saint Valentine's Day) is named after Saint Valentine, one of the first Christian martyrs. It used to be popular in North America and Europe but is now celebrated in nearly every country.

Valentine's Day is not just one day on February 14th; nowadays, we have three Valentine's Days in a year: Red Valentine (February 14th), White Valentine (March 14th), and Black Valentine (April 14th). Red Valentine and White Valentine are days for couples, while Black Valentine is for singles.

Valentine's Day is an occasion for couples to express their love, and for singles to confess their feelings to someone special. Although different countries have different ways of celebrating Valentine's Day, chocolates, red roses, and greeting cards are common gifts exchanged between lovers. In modern times, gifts for Valentine's Day have become more diverse, but chocolate and roses are still indispensable.

Chocolate symbolizes the various emotions of love, sweetness, bitterness, and resentment, while like chocolate, everyone wants to experience the emotions of love no matter what. Meanwhile, roses are a symbol of Venus - the goddess of beauty and love in Roman mythology, and the color red represents passionate love.

The Full Moon of the First Month, also known as Lunar New Year's Tet, marks the first full moon of the lunar new year. This day is considered a 'late Tet' as it falls right after the Lunar New Year's Day. On this occasion, families who were unable to reunite during the Lunar New Year due to illness or other reasons have the opportunity to come together. Vietnamese people often visit pagodas or historical sites on the Full Moon of the First Month to pray for peace and prosperity for themselves and their families. It's also a time for family members to prepare offerings, stand before the ancestral altar, and remember the virtues of their ancestors. Depending on economic conditions and customs, each family or region may have different offerings, but they all express reverence for the Buddha, saints, ancestors, and their traditions.

According to tradition, on the night of the 15th day of the first lunar month (the night of the Full Moon), everywhere is adorned with lanterns, flowers, poems, and offerings for the Full Moon festival. Although these customs have been greatly reduced nowadays, the practices on the Full Moon night of the First Month have become a traditional cultural activity deeply imbued with the poetic essence of the Vietnamese people.

The Côn Sơn – Kiếp Bạc Festival is held annually in February to commemorate the death anniversary of the third patriarch Trúc Lâm Huyền Quang Tôn giả (1334-2014) and honor the significant contributions of the Trúc Lâm Buddhist sect in the cause of religious unification, national defense, and promotion of the values of the national monument Côn Sơn - Kiếp Bạc.

The traditional spring festival of Côn Sơn - Kiếp Bạc is the largest festival in Hải Dương province, recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national intangible cultural heritage. The annual festival takes place from the 10th to the 23rd of the first lunar month, featuring main ceremonies such as the opening ceremony, commemoration of the death anniversary of the third patriarch Trúc Lâm Huyền Quang Tôn giả, mountain worship ceremony at Ngũ Nhạc mountain, memorial ceremony for the third patriarch Trúc Lâm Huyền Quang Tôn giả, as well as cultural activities like making chung cakes, dày cakes, land fireworks, ethnic sports competitions, and Chinese chess tournaments.

The Perfume Pagoda Festival in Hanoi, located in Huong Son commune, My Duc district, is one of the most attractive spiritual tourism destinations in the North, especially during the Lunar New Year. The Perfume Pagoda Festival takes place from the 1st to the 3rd lunar month, attracting many Buddhists and tourists from both domestic and international locations.

The opening ceremony of the Perfume Pagoda falls on the 6th day of the first lunar month, originally the day when the local people open the forest, which later became the opening day of the festival. The festival lasts until the end of the 3rd lunar month.

When visiting the Perfume Pagoda, tourists can immerse themselves in cultural activities and festivals here. The Perfume Pagoda Festival is where unique ethnic cultural activities converge, such as boating, mountain climbing, and performances of traditional folk songs. However, this year, due to the impact of Covid-19, the Perfume Pagoda Festival opened later than usual and implemented disease prevention measures.

The Festival of Ploughing at Doi Son is held in Tien Son commune, Duy Tien town, Ha Nam province, and is a festival with agricultural promotion significance, embodying the cultural beauty returning to its roots. The ritual of ploughing ceremony was first conducted in the 10th century in Ha Nam, on the homeland of King Le Dai Hanh, and after many years of discontinuation, it was restored since 2009 on the 7th day of the first lunar month.

According to ancient legends, the Ploughing Festival originated from King Thanh Nong, a legendary king considered the father of the Vietnamese people, the paternal grandfather of the Hung Kings. Later on, the Ploughing Festival was conducted by the Vietnamese people with the meaning of offering tribute to Thanh Hoang, Thanh Nong, the gods of rain, thunder, and lightning, to pray for favorable weather and abundant harvest, hence also known as the Festival of Praying for Blossom.

The Ploughing Festival not only carries profound humanitarian significance, demonstrating the care of the kings for farmers, but also propagates and educates all classes of people, especially the younger generation, about gratitude towards their ancestors and actively promotes agricultural production. Therefore, every citizen of Ha Nam in particular, and Vietnam in general, needs to promote the tradition of labor emulation, production, and economic development on their homeland.

This year's Festival of Ploughing at Doi Son is held ceremoniously over 3 days from the 5th to the 7th day of the second lunar month (corresponding to the 5th to 7th day of the first lunar month of the Year of the Tiger) with the participation of the State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Prior to that, on the 5th and 6th days of the first lunar month, spiritual ceremonies such as the proclamation ceremony, the procession of water to the Altar, the purification ceremony, and the peace prayer at Doi Son Pagoda were organized...

Yen Tu, the sacred mountain, is always an ideal destination for pilgrims to visit the Buddhist relics every spring. Every year, the Yen Tu Festival is organized from the 10th day of the first lunar month and lasts for 3 months in the spring. The opening ceremony includes activities such as the national prosperity and people's peace prayer ceremony, the sealing of the Yen Tu sacred seal, lion dance performances, cultural performances, folk games, etc. After the solemn rituals organized by the local authorities at the foot of Yen Tu Mountain, thousands of people embark on a pilgrimage to the highest peak of Yen Tu - Dong Pagoda. The road to the top of Yen Tu is winding, rugged, winding under the shade of old trees, passing through pine forests, bamboo groves...

Returning to the sacred land of Yen Tu, visitors not only admire the scenery, pray for peace but also offer incense to commemorate King Tran Nhan Tong, a national hero, and feel the peace, sanctity in the Buddhist realm.

Am Duong Market (also known as Am Phu Market) is a unique market that only takes place on the night of the 4th day of Lunar New Year (February 4th) and ends on the morning of the 5th day of Lunar New Year (February 5th) in O Village, now Xuân Ổ area, Võ Cường ward, Bac Ninh city.

Am Duong Market is established for the purpose of allowing the deceased to reunite with their relatives and acquaintances in the mortal world. According to ancient beliefs, the living would burn incense, paper offerings, candles, or oil lamps to connect with the other world. Am Duong Market also serves the purpose of 'buying luck, selling misfortune.' In the market, buyers do not bargain, and sellers do not count the money paid by buyers. Instead of handing the money to the seller, the buyer will drop the money into a bowl of water. If the money floats, it belongs to the deceased; if it sinks, it belongs to the living.

In the pitch-dark atmosphere, the flickering candlelight in each stall is the only thing that guides people through the market. Following the dim candlelight, market-goers will be led to stalls selling wine, betel nuts, areca nuts, commodities, incense, and more. After midnight, the market gradually disperses, and many people sit together to drink water, offer each other betel nuts, and sing folk songs of Bac Ninh...

For the villagers of O Village, after the Am Duong Market session ends in the early morning of the 5th day of Lunar New Year, it is also the day when the village festival begins, and it is the day to celebrate the victory of King Quang Trung Nguyen Hue, who defeated the 29,000 Qing troops invading the land.