About Dam Ha to attend Trang Y communal house festival

Trang Y Communal House Festival (Dai Binh Commune, Dam Ha District) is imbued with the cultural nuances of the estuary and sea with many unique cultural features. The Communal House Festival is held annually, creating a joyful and exciting atmosphere for people and tourists from all over, contributing to arousing awareness of preserving and promoting the value of cultural heritage.

Procession of the village's tutelary god from the temple to Trang Y communal house.

According to legend, Trang Y Communal House has existed since the 18th century. It is a place to worship the village's tutelary god, including the gods: Cua Ha Thai Liet Dai Vuong, Cua Ha Khanh Thien Dai Vuong, Tho Dia Do Quan, Cua Ha Ha Ba Long Vuong Dai De, Thuy Than Phung Di Duong Hau Long Vuong, Hai Than Hai Nhuoc Vi Long Vuong Chinh Than Dai De, and also worships two human gods of the Ha and Pham families who have contributed to opening the land. The Communal House is where folk cultural festivals of the people of Dai Binh commune and neighboring areas are held.

Mr. Chu Tu Quan, Head of the Folk Arts Association of Dam Ha district, explained that Trang Y means long dress. Local folk legends say that the communal house was built by a lady in long dress. After finishing the work, she disappeared anonymously, and no one knew her name anymore, so the place was called Trang Y to remember the lady in long dress who built the communal house. The communal house was recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a provincial-level historical and cultural relic in 2021.

Mr. Trieu Thanh Ngan, Party Secretary and Chairman of Dai Binh Commune People's Committee, said: This is the last communal house among the 7 communal houses of the ancient Dam Ha land. The communal house festival was restored in 2016 with traditional customs for 3 days from January 24 to 26. In the evenings, the festival often attracts talented men and beautiful women to sing love songs. Legend has it that this is the festival with the most couples getting married compared to other festivals in the area.

Trang Y communal house festival is held with the following ceremonies: Announcement ceremony, procession of gods, procession of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, ceremony of enthronement of Thanh Hoang, ceremony of naturalization of Thanh Hoang, declaration ceremony, singing and dancing during the ceremony. The festival takes place attractively with traditional folk games such as: playing chess, tug of war, cockfighting, blindfolded pot smashing, stick pushing, silk house singing, communal house singing and dancing, love songs, flower dancing...

Previously, in the evening before the opening day, there was an art program with many special performances by art troupes inside and outside the commune, especially the program with the participation of singer, lecturer Pham Kim Thoa, Ho Chi Minh City College of Culture and Arts - the son of Dai Binh commune; singer Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Queen Art Academy. The performances all focused on the theme of praising the changes of the country and homeland. Trang Y communal house festival attracted a large number of people and tourists to watch and cheer. In addition, this year the festival also had a banh chung wrapping competition between villages in the commune, creating an exciting and joyful atmosphere for people and tourists.

Trang Y communal house festival has a strong cultural identity of the Northern Delta residents. The festival also has rituals of procession to worship the gods, singing at the silk house, dancing with lanterns, singing to worship the gods... Besides the similarities with other communal house festivals in the region, Trang Y communal house festival still has its own unique features. That is the combination of dances during the ceremony, flag running around the communal house, singing at the communal house gate to welcome the tutelary god to attend the festival.

Singer Kim Thoa sings on the festival stage.

Along with that, the indictment ceremony is also a unique feature of the Trang Y Communal House Festival. The indictment ceremony is the highlight of the Trang Y Communal House Festival so that all the villagers of Dai Binh commune, whether living far or near, can come to the village festival to offer gifts, report their achievements to the tutelary gods, pray for good luck, pray for national peace and prosperity, and for every family to be happy and prosperous all year round. This is also a form of encouraging learning and talent that is prescribed by the villagers of Dai Binh commune in the village rules and has been passed down from ancient times until today.

Mr. Trieu Thanh Ngan added that at the end of 2024, the People's Committee of Dam Ha district approved the detailed construction plan at a scale of 1/500 for the Trang Y communal house - temple historical relic. After this festival season, the commune will continue to do a good job of preserving, restoring and promoting the value of the relic, and at the same time strive to prepare a dossier to propose recognition of the Trang Y communal house festival as a national intangible cultural heritage.

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