Ba Duong Noi preserves the heritage of the traditional Kite Festival

This year, the atmosphere in Ba Duong Noi village is more joyful because the local government is actively preparing for the traditional kite flying festival and receiving the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Certificate: "Traditional festival, social customs and beliefs of Ba Duong Noi village kite festival" awarded by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism... on April 12 (ie March 15 of the lunar calendar).

Festival of the homeland

Children in Ba Duong Noi village maintain the hobby of flying kites. Photo: Van Nguyen

These days, the atmosphere of preparing for the traditional kite flying competition in Ba Duong Noi village is bustling on all roads. Flags, flowers, billboards, posters… are being decorated on the village road leading to the Kite Temple, brightening up the whole village. The house of Mr. Pham Van Hai, a member of the Traditional Kite Club of Hong Ha commune, has gathered many artisans and skilled workers in the village to come and whittle bamboo strips, build frames, and paste paper on the kites for the festival.

Mr. Nguyen Van Quyet, Head of the Traditional Kite Club of Hong Ha Commune, said that the club has 39 members. To prepare for the village festival, members made hundreds of kites to decorate the "Flute Kite Road - Connecting Journey" on the main road connecting the Red River dike to the Dieu Temple; made kites for the parade, to promote the festival and to fly them during the festival... "The work is busy, but everyone is very happy and loves it, participating enthusiastically", Mr. Quyet happily said.

Members of the Hong Ha Commune Traditional Kite Club make kites in preparation for the festival. Photo: Van Nguyen

As a land where people have a thousand-year-old traditional hobby of kite flying, People's Artist Nguyen Huu Kiem shared that people in Ba Duong Noi village often make 3 main kite shapes: spoon-wing kites, lemon-wing kites and wooden-wing kites. Of which, spoon-wing kites are long, large, pointed, and slightly curved; lemon-wing kites have oval wings shaped like lemon leaves; wooden-wing kites have wide wings with round wing tips. In particular, the unique feature of people in Ba Duong Noi village is playing flute kites. Each kite is usually attached with 3, 5, or 7 flutes. When flying high in the sky, the flute makes a melodious sound like a peaceful countryside song...

The beautiful little kites painted by Mr. Nguyen Van Ty are a tourist product loved by many tourists. Photo: Van Nguyen

In Ba Duong Noi village, kite flying is not only a hobby, but also has a deep spiritual meaning. This is the only locality in the country that has a Kite Temple relic and a traditional Kite Flying Festival that takes place on the full moon day of the third lunar month every year, attracting hundreds of villagers and kite clubs from provinces and cities across the country to attend. On this occasion, after the sacrificial rituals according to local customs, dozens of kites that meet the following conditions: Minimum length of 2.2m, minimum width of 0.6m, have 3 flutes (the flute diameter must be 2.5m or more), the kites must not be covered with white glossy paper... will be flown in the village fields. The kites with the best flutes, that fly the highest and stand the most still... will be the winning kites.

The Ba Duong Noi village kite festival has many meanings. Villagers, whether far away or at home, look forward to this festival to return to reunite, reminisce about old stories and continue to preserve the traditions of their ancestors.

Journey of heritage preservation

People of Ba Duong Noi village compete in kite flying during the village festival. Photo: Van Nguyen

Although many traditional hobbies across the country are gradually fading away, in Ba Duong Noi, the flute kite still holds a special place in people's lives. In Ba Duong Noi village, almost everyone knows how to make a kite. Children make small, pretty kites, while adults make kites with wingspans of more than 2 meters.

People in Ba Duong Noi village fly kites all year round. Whenever the weather is nice, there is a light breeze, and they have free time, they take their kites to the fields to fly, but the most fun is still flying kites on summer afternoons. Experienced kite players often choose the night sky, because then the sound of the kite flute is more enchanting.

According to statistics from the People's Committee of Hong Ha Commune, in Ba Duong Noi village, there are 130 households with kite makers. Many families have a long tradition of kite making, such as People's Artisan Nguyen Huu Kiem, Meritorious Artisan Pham Van Mai and Nguyen Gia Do... Although the artisans are old, they still diligently pass on their skills to their children and grandchildren. From the stages of splitting bamboo, gluing paper to shaping the kites, all are done with care and passion. In 2024, the People's Committee of Hanoi decided to recognize the flute kite making profession of Ba Duong Noi village as a traditional profession.

The Kite Temple in Ba Duong Noi village has just been renovated and renovated to be a place where the annual kite flying festival takes place. Photo: Van Nguyen

Not only making kites to satisfy their hobby, the artisans and skilled workers in Ba Duong Noi kite village also take their kites everywhere, participate in kite festivals at home and abroad, and fairs to introduce the traditional beauty of their homeland to domestic and international friends. The traditional kite club of Hong Ha commune also regularly welcomes groups of visitors to visit, experience the process of making and flying kites right in the village fields. This activity not only helps preserve the traditional craft, but also opens up a new direction of development, making Ba Duong Noi an attractive destination for visitors. In particular, Mr. Nguyen Van Ty, a "skilled" person in the village, has devoted much effort to drawing hundreds of pictures on kites so that the product becomes a unique work of art, the pride of the people here.

The love for kites, the efforts of the people of Ba Duong Noi village and the attention of the local government will help preserve and promote the heritage, becoming a driving force for local development.

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Chairman of Hong Ha Commune People's Committee Nguyen Manh Ha: Along with the traditional kite flying contest and receiving the National Intangible Cultural Heritage, on this occasion, the locality also organized a number of activities, such as: Decorating the "Connecting Journey" kite road; exhibiting kites, photos, poems, and artworks about kites; displaying and introducing ornamental plants and summarizing the restoration and embellishment of the Kite Temple along with cultural, artistic, and sports activities..., creating a joyful atmosphere for the people and expressing the deep gratitude of today's generation to the heritage left by their ancestors.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/ba-duong-noi-giu-gin-di-san-le-hoi-tha-dieu-truyen-thong-697539.html