Bustling all spring

The Spring Festival of At Ty 2025 filled Thai Nguyen with a joyful and exciting atmosphere. From the countryside to the city, the voices and laughter of men, women, the elderly and children were bustling about family and national affairs. Everyone was excited to go to the Spring festival, eager with the belief that new days would be filled with positive life energy.

“This spring is better than the previous springs”, the words of President Ho Chi Minh’s New Year’s poem in 1968 echoed in the hearts of many people attending the festival. I am one of those people, going to the Spring festival with a joyful heart among the crowd. My heart is filled with excitement because the Spring of 2025 has many meanings: Celebrating the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam; looking forward to the Party Congresses at all levels for the 2025-2030 term; the year the country enters an era of growth.

National cultural identity is preserved at festivals.

In the warm spring air, light rain like chalk dust spreads across the sky and earth, peach and apricot blossoms are no longer shy after the drumbeats urging the festival, blooming and showing off their colors. The natural landscape becomes fresh with the chlorophyll green of the trees and leaves. A new year is started with spring festivals. The poem “Spring Emotions” by poet Thi Sanh writes:

"This spring is so beautiful, my dear.
I feel my heart strangely fluttering
Is spring blooming on the buds and leaves?
Or my heart is warm because of you"

Yes, Spring has come to all people. The warmth of heaven and earth makes all things flourish, people are excited to welcome the new Spring and are excited about the festival season. With the "breath" of Spring, festivals in the "half-field, half-mountain" land of Thai Nguyen continuously open. The earliest are the Cau Muoi Communal House - Temple - Pagoda Festival (Phu Binh); Van Mountain, Vo Mountain Festival (Dai Tu); Duom Temple Festival (Phu Luong)...

The highlight is that the festivals are organized in a spirit of thrift, solemnity and efficiency; in accordance with the fine customs and traditional cultural values of the nation; meeting the needs of enjoyment and improving the spiritual life of the people.

The first days of a year are like the opening of a new page in a new notebook, with many aspirations of the human heart. This is also the time when customs and cultural practices are practiced and performed by the people, most fully reproduced through festival activities; at the same time, passed on to the next generation. That is why Spring is the time that brings eternal vitality to festivals, like plants sprouting, blooming, bearing fruit and growing.

The festival is held with the purpose of promoting goodness, showing the respect of the community for ancestors who have contributed to the nation, homeland and country; at the same time showing the holy faith of everyone in the community towards the heroic spirits.

Customs, habits, and lifestyles of each region create unique cultural features of each festival. Over time, festivals are passed down from generation to generation. Festivals are becoming more and more civilized and modern, in line with social changes.

Currently, the province has nearly 200 traditional festivals held in the spring. Each festival has its own unique cultural features, creating an attraction for a large number of people and tourists inside and outside the province. The festivals have become meeting places for thousands of people. It is estimated that in January, the areas, destinations, especially festivals in the province will attract about 500,000 visitors.

Many people and tourists come to the festival with the intention of praying for peace, or just to visit, sightsee, and learn about the festival. Local people consider this the best opportunity to practice together, recreating the profound traditional cultural beauty that has been passed down for thousands of years.

Then, over time, the cultural beauty in daily life, especially spiritual rituals, is passed down from generation to generation in the most complete and detailed way during the Spring festival.

In order for the festival season to take place safely and civilly, meeting the religious, sightseeing and entertainment needs of the people, relevant levels and sectors of the province and localities with festivals have increased information and propaganda about festival regulations through local loudspeaker systems and some social networks such as Zalo, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram. Thereby, people have a more complete and profound understanding of the meaning and value of the festival and voluntarily comply with festival regulations.

Most festivals have a summary board introducing the history, architectural, cultural and artistic values of the relics and festivals. Related activities to meet the religious needs of the people are also arranged by the organizing committee appropriately, ensuring safety, avoiding jostling and fire such as: Place to prepare offerings, place to store offerings, place to offer offerings, burn incense, and burn votive papers.

The management and use of donation money by religious establishments must be carried out publicly, transparently, in accordance with regulations and for the right purposes; the exchange of small change at relics and festivals is strictly prohibited.

Coming to Phu Lien Pagoda (Thai Nguyen City), many people were excited. The pagoda has a rule: People and visitors from all directions do not light or burn incense because the pagoda has already lit incense coils. This is a beautiful cultural feature of going to pagodas, communal houses, and temples at the beginning of the year and throughout the year. I hope this will be popularized and widely implemented in places of worship. Because incense sticks are not as good as incense hearts. Also at the festival of communal houses, temples, and pagodas this year, visitors when performing the ceremony have limited the placing of coins and donations on the altars, and do not place coins on Buddha statues and other artifacts.

Security and order at festivals have been enhanced. In addition to the police force, the militia also has volunteers participating in guiding and helping festival-goers in case they need support. Up to this point, there have been no reports of pickpockets, thefts or being "ripped off" when shopping. Authorities have also not detected anyone buying or selling cultural products that are not allowed to be circulated.

For the safety of the people and tourists, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has proactively coordinated with a number of functional agencies to establish an interdisciplinary inspection team to inspect the management and organization of festivals in localities. Thanks to that, violations, negative manifestations, taking advantage of festivals for superstitious activities, illegal business profits and violations of the Law on Cultural Heritage, and damage to relics have been promptly reminded and prevented.

Through festival activities, the younger generation has a fuller and deeper understanding of the value and great contributions of their ancestors in the time of "creating the world". Each festival contains a treasure trove of folk culture, solemn and sacred, and is like an invisible thread connecting solidarity in the community of ethnic groups, at the same time connecting the past, present and future, and as a reminder for each person to have a more positive attitude towards life, contributing to reducing negative and offensive phenomena in festivals as well as in daily life.