As scheduled, every year, in the Vuc lagoon area (Nam Vien village, Xuan Vien commune, Nghi Xuan district, Ha Tinh), the Dong Hoa fishing festival takes place. This is one of the three traditional fishing festivals in Vietnam that is still preserved to this day. The festival has attracted the participation of thousands of people inside and outside Ha Tinh province.
Dam Vuc has an area of over 30 hectares, located at the foot of Hong Linh mountain, is a place with "charming feng shui" scenery, gathering many types of freshwater fish. According to the elders, Dong Hoa fishing festival has existed for nearly 300 years, is one of the unique traditional festivals imbued with the folk culture of the local people here.
The festival is held regularly every year when people finish harvesting crops, usually after the Doan Ngo Festival and depending on the high and low water levels in Dam Vuc. Not only does it have the spirit of promoting agriculture and fisheries, the Dong Hoa festival also helps to strengthen solidarity and cohesion in the village community.
Mr. Tran Thanh Hoa, 62 years old, a resident of Xuan Vien commune, shared: "I have participated in this festival since I was a child. Now I am over 60 years old, but the excitement of waiting for the festival has almost not changed!" - Mr. Tran Thanh Hoa said.
From early morning, people from all over were excitedly carrying fishing gear such as: traps, nets, nets, scoops, nets, etc. to the Dam Vuc area. At exactly 6:30 am, after the ceremony, the head of the commune gave a loud whistle and waded down with the trap to catch the first fish, followed by hundreds of people with fishing gear rushing down to the lagoon. On the shore, thousands of people watched with delight, cheering.
Not only the elderly and young men, but also women and children enjoy participating, wading into the pond to catch fish. According to the rules, those using traps and nets will have priority to go down to catch fish first, then it is the turn of those using nets and nets.
Both women and children enjoy participating, wading into the lagoon to race to catch fish.
According to folk belief, the bigger the fish that one catches, the luckier he or she will be, with a bountiful harvest and good business throughout the year. Whenever someone screams after catching a big fish, everyone around rushes to share the joy, creating a happy, simple, yet cohesive atmosphere. All the fatigue of a year of hard work and worries seems to disappear.
In recent years, the Dong Hoa fishing festival has become known to people inside and outside Nghi Xuan district. Many people from Vinh city and districts in Nghe An province have also come to participate, join in the fun, and hope for good luck.
The Dong Hoa fishing festival is organized in a very orderly and systematic manner. The village has set up clear regulations, has a management board and encourages people not to fish, trawl, or net the lagoon so that there will be an abundant amount of fish on the day of the festival.
According to Nghi Xuan district leaders, although Dong Hoa festival is nearly 300 years old, the local government and people are always aware of preserving, maintaining and conserving the basic beauty of Dong Hoa fishing festival. The leadership also always tries to coordinate with local people, organizing it on Sundays, when the harvest is basically finished, so that children far from home have the opportunity to come back and participate fully.
