There are festivals held once a year on Tet aimed at serving visitors to pray for luck in love, wealth and successful careers. Tet in the countryside seems to come sooner and its atmosphere can easily be felt at these festivals. Across the country, each region has its own unique character in how to celebrate the Vietnamese Tet holiday.
Wedding festival
This is a special ethnic minority festival in Tam Long Commune, Binh Xuyen district, Vinh Phuc province on 25th of the twelfth lunar month. Boys and girls in this village gather in big crowds. Their parents and grandparents also go together to witness the covenant. They might be lovers before going to the market or the newcomers going to market with a hope of finding partners. This Wedding Festival is a type of ‘love market’ as seen in Vietnam’s northwestern mountains. Many have become husband and wife thanks to these special festivals. Boys and girls eagerly go to the market nicely dressed, formal, stylish and with joyful faces.
Every year, boys and girls go down the mountain to join the Tam Long Festival to celebrate marriage. In Tam Long wedding festival, a traditional saying is:
"Wise boys select wife among crowded markets
Wise girls seek husband among the three forces."
Hades festival
Hades market is popularly understood as the place where the dead and the living can meet each other. The festival takes place in O village, Vo Cuong commune, Bac Ninh Town. The market is held once a year at the night of 4th and on the morning of 5th day of the first lunar month. Goods sold at the market are mainly black chicken which are used as offerings to eliminate evil spirits.
The venue of this festival is vacant area with only ancient trees, next to the edge of the village graveyard. Purchases are conducted without words. The concept "buy luck, sell risk" is not paid as much attention as in some other markets. The festival is an opportunity for the mundane to meet the underworld. All the shoppers are happy and comfortable. They consider this a chance of charity, doing good for the dead. The shoppers do not talk or laugh to avoid making noise that may panic the ghosts, and no candles are lit for the fear that blackbirds, thinking it is the sunshine, will start squawking and make the ghosts go away.
In this market, the buyers do not bargain and the sellers do not count the money the buyers pay. In the darkness, vague shadows step back and forth and whisper. At the festival entry gate is a pot of water used for checking the negative or positive coins. The market ends while it is still night. After the market, the shoppers invite each other to chew betel and enjoy traditional songs of Bac Ninh. This is a popular cultural activity in Kinh Bac area.
Gia Lac Festival
During three days of Tet, in rural and urban areas, the markets are closed. However, Gia Lac Market in Hue is an exception. It is only open on these three days. In Chinese, Gia Lac means "the happy home" or "more fun." This market thus brings more joy for everyone. As usual on 1st New Year, people go to Gia Lac market to buy areca nut and a blade of betel in the hope of enjoying peace throughout the New Year. Then they will buy specialities of their preference.
Goods in the market are plentiful, ranging from toys to food and drinks. Most are local products, namely Nam Pho areca nut with thin crust, clear core; famous Dinh betel known as "flavour betel." Toys for children include birds, fish, fruit, seeds, and Ba Trung riding elephants. All are made from traditional materials such as coloured cassava flour, rice flour or clay. Many kinds of food are offered in the market, but one thing that is never absent from this market is beef.
Gia Lac Market is also a focus point of recreation and relaxation with many local traditional games.
Costumes of people going to Gia Lac market are very nice. Women often dress in traditional clothing. People go to the market with polite attitude and behaviour. Particularly in the flower shop, people abstain from using the words "buy - sell," instead using the words "donate - present". In this market, there is absolutely no quarrelling.
Gia Lac Market is a cultural activity fully characterising Hue style.
Tam Bao Festival
Every year, on the morning of 1st day of the Lunar New Year, local people in Ha Tien Commune, Ha Trung rural district, Thanh Hoa province have the custom of shopping at the market to get luck. The market festival is held near Tam Bao Well, so it is called Tam Bao market. The unique feature of this market is that if the item is worth VND500, the sellers have to say 100 times as high as the original (ie VND 50,000). Once the buyer has finished bargaining, he will have to pay only VND500. The convention to lift and lower the price 100 times is designed to make both seller and buyer feel lucky. The seller offer items at high price and the buyer purchase items at low price. Then both will be lucky throughout the year.
Tam Bao Market is regarded as a vague concept of exchanging not only the sale and purchase of items on the morning of 1st Lunar New Year, but also smiles, warm greetings and regards with hopes of having a lucky and happy New Year.
Smiles also offer hope for a year which will be smooth and convenient.
Sai Gon Letter Festival
Every year, from the full moon in December, people begin gathering at the Letter Market in Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City. The Letter Market is held once a year in the last 15 days of the year on the lunar calendar. Besides District 5, markets in District 11 and District 6 sell all kinds of parallel sentences, jars and calligraphy.
Traditionally, the words meaning auspicious blessings, happiness and fortune life, prosperity are the most popular. It is difficult to locate where to sell calligraphy. According to experienced people, District 5 will be the best venue.
Yellow letters presented on red paper are often popular, with low cost. Some prefer to write letters on white paper in black ink, which is more expensive.
The Letter Market has nearly 50 writers with available red paper and ink. In the street are the tents, some just big enough for one person and a single table displaying of red paper, ink, and a few small chairs for guests to temporarily sit and hang letter samples.
Though small, the market has long become the cultural gathering place in the last days of the year.
Thu Ha
Vietnamese
