Place:Đ́nh Wharf in Quan
Lạn Commune, Vân Đồn District Time:
The
festivities are organized yearly on the 18th day of the
sixth lunar month, but the celebration lasts from the 10th
to the 20th days of month. Significance:The festival is
organized to commemorate the victory against the Mongol invaders
in 1288, as well as the feats of Trân Khánh Dư, a famous Trân
general. They also pray for good “harvest” from the sea. Quan Lạn Communal House
Festival is the village-wide celebration for the inhabitants of
the island community of Quan Lạn: located the central area of the
ancient Vân Đồn Harbour. The
10th day of the sixth lunar month features the ritual of
“closing the village": the inhabitants cannot leave, but
those who have moved away and other guests from any corner
of the country are welcome. The festivities of Quan
Lạn Communal House are comprised of a traditional rowing
competition: villagers are divided into two
sides.
They establish their particular training grounds on the 13th day
of the month in order to prepare themselves. The boats used are
ordinary 5 to 6-tonne fishing boats, with lowered sails and
dragon-heads carved on the fronts. The 16th day
is reserved for receiving the genies. There is a procession for
the funeral tablets of Trân Khánh Dư from the temple to the
village’s communal house. On the 18th
day at about 3:00 PM (every year at this time the tide reaches the
temple’s wharf), the boats start. The "soldiers" on one side wear
a white jacket and blue pants, while the other group wears gray or
black clothing. When the opposing generals meet each other at the
communal house, the “soldiers” and spectators shout resoundingly;
the noise echoes throughout the region. The two generals make
sword-tracings in the air, and the two troops meet each other
three times: symbolizing the three victories during the Trân
Dynasty. Following the third meeting, they assemble before the
shrine, and the rowing contest begins. The Quan Lạn Communal
House Festival bears characteristics of traditional village
festivals, but is particularly grandiose, expressing the military
spirit of the Vietnamese in the struggle against foreign invaders.
