In Khanh Hoa, many traditional festivals still exist, reflecting the unique culture of local people. Among them, the bird's nest festival was formed over 230 years ago and is still maintained and organized regularly by the community of bird's nest exploiters and processors every year on the 10th day of the 5th lunar month. Following the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, the provincial Department of Culture is coordinating to build a dossier to advise the Provincial People's Committee to submit to the National Cultural Heritage Council for consideration and proposal to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (VH-TT-DL) to register the bird's nest festival as a national intangible cultural heritage.
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| The bird's nest festival is held annually on Hon Noi Island. Photo: Archive. |
Festival to honor the bird's nest profession
According to historical records, the profession of exploiting and processing bird's nests in Khanh Hoa was born nearly 700 years ago, with the event of Tran Dynasty Admiral Le Van Dat coming to Hon Tre island area and finding the surrounding bird's nest islands and then finding a way to exploit bird's nests. The people of Bich Dam fishing village (Vinh Nguyen ward, Nha Trang city) worship him as a god of fortune and worship him in the village temple; the community of people exploiting bird's nests consider him the ancestor of Khanh Hoa bird's nest profession. Currently, in Bich Dam residential group, there is still an ancient temple, commonly known as Ba temple. According to legend, the temple was built to worship Mrs. Le Thi Huyen Tram - Grand Admiral of Tay Son navy, daughter of Binh Khang An Phu Su Le Van Quang (21st generation descendant of Admiral Le Van Dat).
According to legend, on May 10, 1793, Mrs. Le Thi Huyen Tram and her father heroically sacrificed their lives in the battle to protect the sovereignty of the sea and islands, and to protect the bird's nest islands. Since then, the people of Bich Dam fishing village in particular and the Khanh Hoa bird's nest industry in general have always respected and regularly cared for the incense at this temple. Every year, on the 10th day of the 5th lunar month, the islanders hold a ceremony to worship the temple to show gratitude and commemorate the great merits of the Ancestor and the Holy Mother. In the Hon Noi bird's nest island area, the bird's nest industry also built a temple to worship the Ancestor Le Van Dat and the Island Owner Holy Mother Le Thi Huyen Tram, along with the ancestors who discovered the bird's nest islands, developed the profession of exploiting and processing bird's nests, contributing to the development of the land of Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa. This is considered the origin of the bird's nest festival.
Over time, the community of bird nest workers has grown, so the bird nest festival has also expanded in scale every year. Today, the bird nest festival still retains its meaning as an occasion to pay tribute to the ancestors who founded and preserved the profession and is often organized systematically in the Hon Noi bird nest island area. The festival usually takes place with rituals: Opening the gate; raising the flag; offering incense; offering the tong na ceremony... Each time the festival takes place, the bird nest workers once again raise their responsibility to preserve, promote, and embellish traditional values, developing the bird nest industry to become stronger and stronger.
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| The bird's nest festival is held on Hon Noi bird's nest island. Source: Provided by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism |
Proposal to register as national intangible cultural heritage
In January, the Provincial People's Committee sent a document to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the construction of a national intangible cultural heritage dossier for the bird's nest festival. In particular, the Provincial People's Committee requested the department to closely coordinate with the Khanh Hoa State-owned One Member Limited Liability Company for Bird's Nest and other agencies, units and localities to implement the necessary contents.
According to Mr. Le Van Hoa - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, over the past years, Khanh Hoa State-owned One Member Limited Liability Company has done many specific things such as: Researching the origins of those who have contributed to the maintenance and exploitation of bird's nests from the past to the present; renovating and embellishing the temple of the Ancestor, the Holy Mother and the sages who have contributed to protecting the land, protecting the sea, and building the profession so that Hon Noi bird's nest island becomes a place of pilgrimage, sightseeing, and remembrance for previous generations of bird's nest workers in particular and the sea profession throughout the country in general; restoring the bird's nest exploitation launching days, related rituals associated with the bird's nest profession... Currently, the department is working with the company and related individuals and organizations to build a dossier on the intangible cultural heritage of the bird's nest festival under the direction of the Provincial People's Committee. On that basis, the Provincial People's Committee will be advised to submit to the National Cultural Heritage Council for consideration and propose to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to register the bird's nest festival as a national intangible cultural heritage.
Khanh Hoa has been famous as "Land of Agarwood - Sea of Bird's Nest" for many generations and has been recorded in history books. Khanh Hoa's bird's nest is considered an extremely valuable product, once considered by the Nguyen Dynasty kings as a precious specialty of the country, a national resource. The image of a bird's nest and a bird's nest is engraved on the Tuyen Dinh placed in front of The Mieu Temple in Hue Imperial City. Bird's nest is naturally produced in the sea and islands, bearing the cultural and human imprint of Khanh Hoa. Generations of bird's nest workers have always remembered the merits of their predecessors, so they always focus on organizing annual festivals to show gratitude and commemorate the Ancestors, the Holy Mother and those who have worked hard to build the bird's nest industry to become stronger. The proposal to register the bird's nest festival as a national intangible cultural heritage is considered necessary in preserving and promoting the value of the festival. In particular, this is even more meaningful when Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest Exploitation and Processing Knowledge was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on December 10, 2024.
According to the plan to organize activities in the Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa Sea Festival in 2025, the bird's nest festival will be organized on a large scale to promote and introduce this unique traditional festival to a large number of domestic and international tourists. Hopefully, relevant agencies and units will promptly complete the necessary contents so that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism can include the bird's nest festival in the list of national intangible cultural heritage.
FAMILY
Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/van-hoa/202502/nang-tam-gia-tri-le-hoi-yen-sao-f6f24cf/
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