Attractive Lion - Unicorn - Dragon Competition in Nha Trang City

The 29th Nha Trang City Lion - Lion - Dragon Competition had 16 teams from communes and wards in the city competing. With unique, attractive and beautiful performances, the competition brought to the coastal city of Nha Trang a joyful and exciting atmosphere, welcoming the upcoming Lunar New Year 2025.

The New Year's Eve finale of a four-legged lion competition.

In recent days, April 2 Square (Nha Trang City) has been more bustling and exciting with the 29th Nha Trang City Lion - Unicorn - Dragon Dance Competition - "Celebrating the Party - Celebrating Spring" At Ty 2025. According to records, on the opening evening (January 13 evening), from very early on, hundreds of spectators, including Nha Trang residents and tourists, gathered around the stage area of the competition to wait to see the lion dance teams perform. Ms. Vo Thi Anh Nguyet (Vinh Hai Ward) said: "Every year, whenever I hear that there is a lion - unicorn - dragon dance competition, my daughter and I definitely go to see it. Because whenever I see a lion dance, I feel the bustling Tet atmosphere, making people feel nostalgic and excited."

The unicorns perform beautiful kicking and head shaking movements.

The locals are like that, for Vietnamese people who have been away from home for a long time, returning home for the first time to celebrate Tet like Mrs. Bui Thi Viet Ha (living in Germany), enjoying the bustling atmosphere, the attractive, beautiful and unique lion - unicorn - dragon performances is truly an unforgettable memory. “It has been more than 40 years, this is the first time I have returned to Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa to celebrate Tet. During the days here, I have seen my hometown change, the bustling streets, the joyful Tet atmosphere makes my heart feel excited, hard to describe. This is also the first time after so many years, I have seen the lion - unicorn - dragon dance on Tet, childhood memories seem to come flooding back”.

Lion dance performance standing on an iron pillar by a competing team.

According to Mr. Nguyen Chanh Thuc - Director of the Center for Culture - Information and Sports of Nha Trang City, the competition is a traditional activity of the city held annually, opening a series of cultural, artistic and sports events to celebrate the Party - celebrate the spring of Nha Trang. This is also an opportunity for local lion - unicorn - dragon teams and clubs to exchange, learn, strengthen solidarity, preserve and promote national cultural traditions. Thereby, contributing to meeting the needs of enjoying traditional folk culture and arts of people and tourists every time Tet comes and spring comes. This year's competition has 16 participating teams, performing continuously with 35 acts in 3 days (from January 13 to 15). The teams compete in 4 categories: Four noble lions, earth treasures, mai hoa thung and lion dance. According to a member of the referee board, this year's competition was scientifically organized, and the professional quality of the teams' performances was also quite good.

Many Nha Trang people and tourists cheered for the competing and performing teams.

This year, the teams with similar content were allowed to compete first by the Organizing Committee. Specifically, on the 2 competition days of January 13 and 14, all 27 performances of the lion dance, four-season unicorn and earth treasure teams were arranged to compete first. On the last competition day (January 15), 8 teams competing in the mai hoa thung content competed together. According to Mr. Nguyen Chanh Thuc, the Organizing Committee arranged this to create a highlight for the competition. Because for lion - lion - dragon performances, the lion dance on mai hoa thung content is the most difficult and highly dangerous. To perform the lion dance on mai hoa thung beautifully, the athletes must have a martial arts foundation (traditional martial arts) and thorough training. Therefore, on the last competition day of the competition, the flying, running and jumping in the air of the lions on the mai hoa iron poles (about 4 - 6m high) are special performances that the city offers to the people and tourists.