Unique Bich La communal house market, only meets once a year on the 3rd day of Tet

(CLO) Taking place only once a year on the third day of the Lunar New Year, Bich La communal house market still leaves in the hearts of visitors many echoes and memories of the traditional folk festival imbued with the identity of Quang Tri countryside.

No one knows when it started, but the Bich La communal house market (Quang Tri) only meets once a year.

Early morning of January 31 (the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year 2025), thousands of people gathered at Dinh Bich La market to attend the unique first market of the year. Photo: PL

People come here not only to pray for wealth, fortune, and peace at the beginning of the new year, but also to immerse themselves in the rustic market of their simple, dear childhood memories.

From midnight on the second day of Lunar New Year, streams of people flock to Bich La communal house market (Bich La village, Trieu Thanh commune, Trieu Phong district, Quang Tri province) to meet at the market that only meets once a year.

The items sold by locals at the market, which only takes place once a year, are mainly green tea leaves. Photo: GT

For the villagers of Bich La, as a tradition, people gathered at the lake in front of the village communal house to watch the reenactment of the "Golden Turtle God" appearing.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Bich La villagers gather at the communal house to participate in worshipping, offering sacrifices, and paying tribute to the gods and ancestors who have contributed to the village and the country. At the same time, they organize traditional cultural and sports activities.

The festival space is bustling with the local art performance program. Photo: Hoang Dung

The most prominent highlight of the Bich La Communal House Fair is the Kim Quy God Prayer Ceremony. The space of the Kim Quy God Prayer Ceremony is very sacred, expressing the wish for a prosperous country from the time when our ancestors founded and defended the country.

It is the great and sacred aspiration that the people have preserved until today that has made the prayer ceremony more solemn, attracting tens of thousands of tourists to come and attend the ceremony with reverence.

Before the moment of harmony between heaven and earth, Bich La villagers pray together for a year of favorable weather, bountiful crops, and healthy children.

The roads leading to the market are bustling with the sound of vendors inviting customers to buy betel boxes, salt bags, and branches of "lucky" flowers at the beginning of the year. Photo: GT

After the ceremonies to worship the village's guardian gods, which have been passed down and preserved through many generations, comes the festival with many folk games and finally, the indispensable first lucky market of the year. The market lasts from the evening of the 2nd day to the morning of the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year.

Not jostling, pushing and bustling like the scene of asking for luck at the beginning of the year in other places, the space of Bich La communal house market is filled with laughter, chatting, and the sound of...

Coming to the communal house market, everyone buys some "luck" for the first day of the year to bring home. Photo: DT

Between the moments of day and night is also the time when Bich La market gathers, in the warm atmosphere of Tet, not only Bich La people but also tourists from all over come here to go to the market and burn incense to pray for peace and fortune.

An indispensable part of the market is buying and selling the “luck” of the market. “Luc” here is the simple, modest products that the Bich La people work hard and save all year round and save the best, most refined products for this market night.

The beauty of asking for calligraphy at the beginning of the year at the market. Photo: PL

“Luck” is green tea branches, areca nuts, betel leaves, salt, rice… from the land and hands of Bich La villagers who take care of and make them.

People who go to Bich La communal house market do not sell to make a profit, but only hope that buyers will buy cheaply and have good luck, and that buyers also hope for a little luck at the beginning of the new year with a smooth year.

Those "lucky branches" are brought home by buyers to place in a prominent place in the house or become meaningful gifts for friends and relatives at the beginning of the new year.

Opening of Bich La communal house fair. Photo: Hoang Dung

Everyone who goes to the market tries to buy something for good luck.

Although the weather this year is cold and rainy, Bich La communal house is still warm in the early days of spring, with people braving the rain and wind to come to the market to meet, chat and offer incense to their ancestors.

And so that Vietnamese people wherever they come here can feel a peaceful and hospitable countryside.

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/doc-dao-cho-dinh-bich-la-moi-nam-chi-hop-mot-lan-vao-mung-3-tet-post332482.html