The 2024 Do Son Traditional Buffalo Fighting Festival takes place safely, excitingly and attractively

(Haiphong.gov.vn) - On the morning of September 21 (ie August 19 of the lunar calendar), the 2024 Do Son Traditional Buffalo Fighting Festival took place at the Do Son District Central Stadium. Attending the festival were Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Le Khac Nam; representatives of leaders of agencies, units, and localities inside and outside the city; along with tens of thousands of people from Do Son district and tourists from all over.

The leaders presented flowers and souvenir flags to the buffalo owners.

This year's Festival includes 16 buffaloes, of which each ward has 2 buffaloes and 4 buffalo owners who won the First, Second and Third prizes in 2023 can each register to participate in 1 buffalo. The District Festival Organizing Committee has conducted 3 buffalo inspections to assess the quality and safety of the fighting buffaloes according to the criteria of the Festival Organizing Regulations.

The Organizing Committee awarded the First Prize.

The Organizing Committee awarded the second prize.

In favorable weather, the competitions took place safely, excitingly and attractively. Buffalo number 4 from Hai Son ward of buffalo owner Luu Dinh Khang excellently won the championship; buffalo number 7 from Ngoc Xuyen ward of buffalo owner Nguyen Ngoc Hung won second prize; buffalo number 10 from Minh Duc ward of buffalo owner Luu Dinh Toan Quyen and buffalo number 13 from Hop Duc ward of buffalo owner Tran Thanh Liem both won third prize.

The Organizing Committee awarded the Third Prize.

In addition, the Organizing Committee awarded the best buffalo fighting pair to buffalo number 14 from Van Huong ward owned by buffalo owner Dinh Xuan Thuy and buffalo number 13 from Hop Duc ward owned by buffalo owner Tran Thanh Liem; awarded the buffalo with the best fighting move to buffalo number 13 from Hop Duc ward owned by buffalo owner Tran Thanh Liem.

A large number of local people and tourists attended the festival.

According to annual tradition, the Festival is held on the 9th day of the 8th lunar month, but this year due to the heavy damage caused by storm No. 3, Do Son district has requested to change the schedule of the Festival to overcome the damage after the storm. The contents of the Ceremony are still held according to the traditional time and rituals.

Two buffaloes compete in the Final match.

This is a traditional folk festival, associated with the long-standing custom of worshipping the water god and sacrificing animals of the people of Do Son coastal area. The festival preserves the spiritual cultural activities, the cultural identity of the community, expressing the martial spirit of the people of Do Son with the aspiration to conquer nature, master the sea, pray for favorable weather, bountiful crops, national peace and security, a prosperous and happy life for the people. The festival has an intersection between the agricultural cultural elements of the delta region and the cultural elements of coastal residents, demonstrating the diversity in Vietnamese folk culture and beliefs and is closely linked to the length of history and development of the land and people of Do Son.

After 35 years of restoration and development, the organization of the Festival has been improved in quality, while still preserving folk elements and traditional cultural values, becoming a valuable cultural heritage, a unique and attractive tourism product of the country in general and of Do Son, Hai Phong in particular.

With that meaning and humanistic value, in 2012, the Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival was included in the list of "National Intangible Cultural Heritage" by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Thereby, it demonstrated the spiritual cultural value, the endogenous, lasting and strong vitality of the Festival in the spiritual life of the People. This is a great honor, and at the same time a great responsibility of the Party Committee, the government and the People of Do Son district in preserving, conserving and developing the Festival, making the Festival a resource for local economic development, attracting a large number of people and domestic and foreign tourists to attend and cheer.

Source: https://haiphong.gov.vn/tin-dia-phuong/le-hoi-choi-trau-truyen-thong-do-son-nam-2024-dien-ra-an-toan-soi-noi-hap-dan-709474