'Cau Ngu' (Fish Worshipping) Festival

The ‘Cau Ngu’ (Fish Worshipping) Festival is one of the most important events in the cultural and spiritual lives of fishermen, associated with the traditional whale worshipping ritual in the past.

The event will feature certain solemn traditional ceremonies and exciting folk games. Included will be a procession of the Whale Saint who protects fishermen at sea and traditional rituals to honour ancestors and to pray for peace and prosperity throughout the year, all of which showcase the local cultural identity.

Besides rituals, the festival will treat both locals and visitors with cultural and artistic activities. Notable among them will be ‘bai choi’ (singing while acting as playing cards) - resound chants of the Quang Region and ‘ba trao’ (dancing and singing local traditional folk songs) to honour the merits and virtues of the whale, and to show the local fishermen's strong desire for peaceful offshore fishing trips, with bumper catches. In addition, various exciting competitions will be held at the event, including fishing net knitting, tug-of-war, and a coracle race, and soccer and beach volleyball tournaments.

Time:

February 8 - 10 along Nguyen Tat Thanh Beach

February 15 - 17 at the Whale Temple, Man Thai Ward, Son Tra District

Ticket: Free to watch

Thac GIan Village Communal House Festival

The annual event will feature a number of solemn rituals to honour ancestors, and to preserve and promote Vietnamese cultural identity. In addition, a wide range of exciting cultural activities will be held during the festival, such as ‘bai choi’ (singing while acting as playing cards) performances, tug-of-war competition, singing competition, and storytelling competition.

Time: March 6 and 7

Venue: Thac Gian Village Communal House, Chinh Gian Ward, Thanh Khe District

Ticket: Free admission

Quan The Am (Avalokitesvara) Festival

The festival is one of the most eagerly anticipated spiritual cultural events for Buddhists and non- Buddhists across Da Nang and elsewhere in the country. It aims to meet the cultural, spiritual and religious needs of the locals and it is a good opportunity to advertise the city’s tourism images to domestic and foreign visitors.

This year's festival will include many activities, in which ritual, belief and religious activities will have a calligraphy performance, a costume ceremony of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, a procession of worshiping Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara at the Marble Tourist Area and the planting of Bodhi trees.

During the festival, there will be many cultural, artistic and sports activities such as art kite flying and Non Nuoc stone carving contest, a vegetarian cooking show, an exhibition of painting - calligraphy - ornamental stones, a boat race on the Co Co River and a village-scale chess festival, thereby developing local tourism products and meeting the needs of spiritual life and community beliefs.

Time: March 8 - 10

Venue: Quan The Am (Avalokitecvara) Pagoda in the Marble Mountains Tourist Area

Ticket: Free admission

By M.DUNG