"April measuring beans to cook sweet soup
Celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival and return in May."
The Doan Ngo Festival in 2025 falls on Saturday, May 31st of the Gregorian calendar, and is one of the most important traditional holidays in Vietnamese culture. The Doan Ngo Festival originates from Eastern culture, and has been adopted and preserved by the Vietnamese people for many generations. “Doan” means beginning, “Ngo” is the time frame from 11am to 1pm – the hour of Ngo.
This is the time when, according to folk beliefs, the Sun and Earth are closest to each other in the year, bringing with them abundant positive energy, making it a perfect time to perform purification rituals and pray for good things. The focus of this holiday is the ancestral altar, a symbol of respect and wishes for health, luck, and fortune for the whole family.
Every May, the atmosphere becomes bustling and filled with the colors of folk culture.
Preparing the ancestral altar on the occasion of the Dragon Boat Festival requires meticulousness and thoughtfulness, expressing gratitude to ancestors for blessing a prosperous year. The basic, indispensable offerings on the altar include incense, flowers, votive paper, water and rice wine.
In particular, fresh seasonal fruits are an important part, often seen are plums, sapodilla, watermelon, lychee and banana. If possible, families can add banh gio (also known as banh tro) and lotus seed tea to make the tray more full and meaningful. Each type of fruit and cake has its own meaning, symbolizing fertility, bountiful harvest and a fulfilling life.
One of the highlights of the Duanwu Festival is eating sour, aromatic fruits to "kill insects" in the body.
Sticky rice wine is the most typical dish during the Duanwu Festival, which has the meaning of killing parasites and helping to warm the stomach during the changing of seasons. Northerners often use yellow sticky rice wine, whole grain white sticky rice wine, while Southerners use round balls of rice wine, soaked in sticky rice wine.
According to ancient beliefs, rice wine is a dish that combines all the flavors of spicy, hot, sweet, sour, and bitter to kill insects, worms, and parasites in the body.
Ash cake (gio cake) is a traditional cake that has existed for a long time on this occasion. The cake is made from sticky rice soaked in ash water from benign plants such as sticky rice straw, green bean peel, grapefruit peel... After soaking, the rice will have a light yellow color, soft and smooth. Ash cake eaten with molasses or rock sugar has the effect of cooling the intestines, good for digestion, very suitable for the summer. Depending on each family, offering 3-5 ash cakes is enough.
Banh gio has a light taste, mixed with molasses to create a dish that is both cool on summer days and rich in the flavor of the homeland.
Depending on regional traditions, many families prepare a savory offering tray with boiled chicken, boiled eggs, or boiled duck. In some places such as the Central and Southwest regions, duck meat is a familiar dish during the Duanwu Festival, because at this time ducks are often fat and have delicious meat. If duck is not available, a whole boiled, chopped, or roasted rooster is also a suitable choice, especially in families in the North.
Traditionally, the main worshiping time usually takes place at “Ngo” hour, which is from 11am to 1pm. This is considered the time when the yang energy is most prosperous, suitable for offering offerings to ancestors and gods, praying for blessings to eliminate insects, diseases and bring peace and prosperity to the family.
The offerings for the Duanwu Festival are usually simple but harmonious, mainly consisting of seasonal fruits and traditional cakes.
In addition to the offerings, the Duanwu Festival is also associated with many other unique customs aimed at purification and peace. Early in the morning of the Duanwu Festival, after waking up, adults and children often eat some sour, astringent fruits or dishes such as sticky rice wine and ash cakes.
In addition, bathing with natural herbal water is also a popular ritual. Water boiled from coriander leaves, perilla leaves, Vietnamese balm leaves, lemongrass leaves, and bamboo leaves is believed to have the ability to dispel bad air, cleanse the body, and bring a feeling of comfort and excitement.
Bathing in "leaf on the fifth day" is an indispensable thing on this occasion.
Washing hair and steaming with aromatic leaves such as grapefruit, coriander, lemongrass, and soapberry is also a traditional method to help the body detoxify, prevent colds, and give women smooth, black hair. These activities not only have health benefits but also show harmony with nature, the desire to attract positive energy into the living space.
The Dragon Boat Festival is an occasion for us to perform meaningful rituals, connect with tradition and express gratitude. Preparing a thoughtful offering tray along with other purification rituals will help the family celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival fully, praying for good things in luck, health and fortune.
