In the bustling atmosphere of the first days of the new spring, preparations for the Keo Pagoda Spring Festival in Duy Nhat Commune (Vu Thu) seem to be even more hurried. Following the success of the 2024 spring festival, this year's Keo Pagoda Spring Festival extends the duration of the festival activities. Instead of only taking place on the 4th of January, the festival will be held from January 4 to 8 (February 1 to 5), promising to be an impressive destination in the spring travel season with lots of joy and luck for visitors from near and far.
The singing cruise is an activity that will take place throughout the days of the Keo Pagoda festival in spring 2025.
Ready to organize the festival
According to the festival organizers, this year's spring festival, with 5 days, Keo Pagoda Festival will have many special activities. In particular, on all days, there will be a singing boat activity organized on the southern lake of the relic. The bustling songs and voices on the first day of the new spring seem to invite visitors from near and far to participate in the traditional festival and enjoy the beauty of the ancient relic. It is expected that on the opening day of the festival on January 4 and the days of the festival, the special national relic Keo Pagoda will welcome a large number of visitors. To prepare for all activities to ensure safety and convenience, the organizers have established 4 subcommittees: content and celebration, health and environmental sanitation, judges, and finance. Implementing a civilized lifestyle in the traditional festival, the content and celebration subcommittee is responsible for guiding religious and belief activities in accordance with the provisions of law and the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha; Instruct local people and visitors to only burn incense at the communal incense burner outside the pagoda to ensure fire and explosion safety; at the same time, ensure that there are no fortune-telling, physiognomy, superstition, etc. at the festival. During the festival, the organizing committee will arrange a permanent medical emergency station, prepare enough medicine for treatment and initial emergency care; regularly check and supervise environmental sanitation, food hygiene and safety, etc. to leave a good impression of the spring festival for visitors from all over. A new point in ensuring environmental sanitation is that the Keo pagoda relic management board has arranged bins to classify waste at the source, with specific instructions so that visitors can dispose of inorganic, organic, and recyclable waste in the right places.
Mr. Nguyen Manh Doan, Head of Keo Pagoda Relic Management Board informed: Implementing the Law on Environmental Protection in the fields of culture and tourism, the Relic Management Board arranged trash bins and classified waste at the source with the desire to work with the people and tourists to keep the Keo Pagoda campus clean, green, clean and beautiful, so that Keo Pagoda is always a place for religious and spiritual activities, a source of pride for the people of Thai Binh in general and Vu Thu district in particular.
Students participate in the spring writing performance at Keo Pagoda festival.
Exciting activities taking place
According to traditional rules, on the 4th of January, right after the opening ceremony (opening the temple), the folk rice cooking competition will be held on the southern lake bank and the yard of Ong Ho temple in the special national relic Keo pagoda. Under the roof of the ancient pagoda nearly 400 years old, the elders of Keo village and the next generation join hands every day to preserve and protect the festival which has been recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage.
Sharing about the folk competition that is associated with the traditional festival, Mr. Vu Dinh Nguyen, Duy Nhat commune (Vu Thu) said: 4 hamlets in Keo village are divided into 4 teams, every year they participate in the fire-pulling and rice-cooking competition. During the competition, we must be united and coordinate smoothly in each stage to be able to win first prize in both the race and the rice-cooking part, only then can we bring the rice tray to offer to the Saint. By participating in the competition, we wish all the best for the villagers, local people, and tourists participating in the festival, and at the same time, try to promote the traditional culture of our homeland.
Visitors experience the brilliant spring atmosphere at Binh An garden in the special national relic Keo pagoda.
As a resident of Keo village, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa excitedly shared: Every year, on the 4th day of Tet, all villagers are excited to attend the festival, wishing happiness, peace and prosperity to all families. We really hope that the festival will develop more and more, and that all people will be aware of preserving the identity of their homeland.
Mr. Do Ngoc Trung, Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Vu Thu district, said: On the 5th of January, the puppetry ritual to worship the Saint will take place at the whip tower, the spring writing program will take place at the outer gate. Regarding the puppetry ritual to worship the Saint, this is a spiritual ritual that used to exist at Keo pagoda, but was later lost. After studying historical documents, in recent years, this ritual has been gradually restored. This is a very special ritual in Thai Binh in general, and Keo pagoda in particular.
Busy preparing for the spring festival in 2025, which promises many new things and joys, the people of Keo village in particular and Vu Thu district in general hope that this will always be an unmissable destination for visitors from near and far every New Year. At the same time, through the series of activities organized, it will create a joyful atmosphere at the beginning of the new spring, contributing practically to preserving and promoting the value of the intangible cultural heritage of Keo pagoda festival and serving the spiritual and cultural needs of local people and visitors from all over the country at this special national relic.
Tu Anh
Source: https://baothaibinh.com.vn/tin-tuc/19/217114/huong-toi-le-hoi-chua-keo-mua-xuan
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