Thousands of people enjoy 'mud bathing' while cheering on water wrestling festival

TPO - The water wrestling festival in Van village, Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province is being held, attracting thousands of locals and tourists to watch. Many people are willing to "get covered in mud" when choosing seats to cheer near the competition field.

The water wrestling festival (or mud wrestling festival) in Van village, Van Ha, Viet Yen, Bac Giang is held from the 12th to the 15th of the fourth lunar month.

The festival belongs to the folk belief of worshiping the Sun God of farmers in this land since ancient times.

On May 13, 2022, the Van village water wrestling festival was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Since then, the village has shortened the organization time from 4 years to once every 2 years.

The wrestling festival is held on the main yard of the Tam Giang Saint Temple (Hamlet 4, Yen Vien village) about 200 square meters wide, the yard surface is made of mud, at both ends of the yard there are two holes to push the ball down, each time the ball is pushed down the hole, a round ends.

Although the festival falls on a weekend and two weekdays, it still attracts thousands of people from all over and local people to cheer.

Many people did not approach the field but stood far away and used their phones to record the fight for the ball on the temple ground.

Many people, afraid of mud splashes and wanting to have a good view, climbed onto the balconies of nearby houses or climbed trees to observe.

Many photographers had to climb the temple's banyan tree to get good angles and avoid the "mud rain" splashing on their cameras.

With many years of experience watching the festival, hundreds of locals and tourists arrived early to "reserve seats" close to the competition field, preparing many mud-blocking tools such as raincoats, hats, caps, cardboard...

Many young people are willing to have mud splashed all over their faces and clothes.

The dramatic match, fierce tug of war between the two teams caused mud and water to splash everywhere, making it impossible for the surrounding audience to avoid being "mud bathed" all over.