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The Lantern Festival (the 15th day of the first lunar month) is a traditional festival in China and the Upper Yuan Festival in Vietnam. In areas with large Chinese communities, the Lantern Festival still features many special activities. In Ho Chi Minh City, the Lantern Festival is often celebrated by the Vietnamese-Chinese community in the Cholon area - District 5.
After two years of being canceled due to the pandemic, this year the Cholon area is once again bustling with the sounds of drums and trumpets, lion dances, stilt walking, and crowds of people flocking to temples and pagodas to pray. This is an occasion for everyone to pray for peace and a safe year.
The Lantern Festival is an occasion to pray for peace and good fortune in the new year.
The Lantern Festival of the Chinese community in Cholon is usually celebrated with diverse rituals and festivities at community halls and homes, including: ceremonial rituals, parades, performances of traditional opera and theater, lion and dragon dances, riddles, calligraphy, painting, musical performances (Chaozhou-style ancient drums, Fujian ceremonial music), burning incense sticks, pasting prayer papers, giving lucky money, lantern riddles, and offering lamp oil... These activities have been included in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Vietnam by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism since 2020.
This year, the lion and dragon dance troupe began their parade on Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street at 5 PM on February 15th (the 15th day of the first lunar month), traveling approximately 4 km through Chau Van Liem, Lao Tu, Luong Nhu Hoc, Nguyen Trai, and Tran Xuan Hoa streets, and ending at the District 5 Cultural Center.
800 Chinese people, dressed in colorful costumes and dressed as fairies, the God of Wealth, etc., paraded and performed lion dances around the Cholon area on the afternoon of February 15th.
The lion and dragon dance is dazzling.
Chinese girls transform into fairies.
"After spending many days alone, participating in the Lantern Festival of the Chinese community gave Ha a truly festive atmosphere and, to some extent, made her feel like she was traveling 'abroad,' right in the heart of the city where she has lived for decades," shared Bui Viet Ha.
"Although the scale isn't as large as in previous years, for Ha, being immersed in the crowd and parading with the Nhon Nghia Duong lion dance troupe is a very special feeling."
The fairies, characters from Peking Opera, perform on stilts in the streets.
The Lantern Festival also includes other activities such as: a food week, Vietnamese poetry day, art exhibitions, ink paintings, calligraphy, art photography, folk games, etc.
After the Lantern Festival, people will remove all their Spring-Lunar New Year decorations to officially end the festive atmosphere, expressing their intention to focus on a successful and productive new year of work.
