Proud that Cam Lam Village's Fishing Festival is a national intangible cultural heritage

With the efforts of restoration, the Fishing Festival of Cam Lam village (Xuan Lien commune, Nghi Xuan, Ha Tinh) has just been recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage. This makes local people excited and proud.

Cam Lam village fishing festival will be held in 2023.

According to research documents, the fishing festival in Cam Lam village (Xuan Lien, Nghi Xuan) dates back hundreds of years, associated with the local fishermen's custom of worshipping whales. The royal decrees kept at Dong Hai temple show that under the Nguyen Dynasty, in the 6th year of Thanh Thai (1894) and the 9th year of Khai Dinh (1924), the kings assigned Cam Lam village (now Cam Lam village, Xuan Lien commune) to worship the god Dong Hai Cu Ngu Linh Ung Chi Than or Dong Hai Linh Ung ton than. This worship is also associated with the fishing festival in Cam Lam village.

The Cam Lam village fishing festival takes place every year on the full moon of January. And every three years, the locals will hold a fishing festival with many rituals such as: worshiping the Whale, carrying the Dong Hai Linh Ung god... along with exciting cultural and folk art activities. This is a traditional spiritual and cultural activity of the people of Cam Lam village in particular and fishermen in neighboring localities in general.

The Cam Lam Village Fishing Festival Ritual Committee prepares for the worship ceremony and procession of Dong Hai Dai Vuong at the ceremony to receive the certificate of recognition as a national intangible cultural heritage in mid-March 2024.

After decades of decline, recently, the government and people of Xuan Lien commune have restored the festival, along with a campaign to restore and embellish Dong Hai temple (the place associated with the festival) to become more and more spacious.

With many values, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently issued Decision No. 389/QD-BVHTTDL dated February 21, 2024, announcing the Cam Lam Village Fishing Festival as a national intangible cultural heritage. Receiving this good news, local people were extremely excited and proud.

Mr. Le Van Bien (63 years old, Lam Hoa village, Xuan Lien commune) said: "For us coastal people, the fishing festival is a very meaningful big event. Therefore, in recent years, the festival has been restored, we have been very happy, now it is recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage, the excitement and pride have multiplied. In recent days, after hearing the news, the whole village has been even more bustling, children from everywhere have called to share the joy with their parents and grandparents".

Video: Mr. Le Van Bien (Lam Hoa village, Xuan Lien) shares about the Cam Lam village fishing festival.

These days, the people of Xuan Lien commune are also eagerly preparing for the ceremony to receive the certificate recognizing the Cam Lam fishing festival as a national intangible cultural heritage. The event is expected to be held on the 15th and 16th of the second lunar month (March 24 and 25, 2024).

On this occasion, Cam Lam villagers will also hold a ceremony and carry the Dong Hai Linh Ung ton Than according to traditional rituals from Dong Hai temple to Thanh Hoang temple of the village and out to sea. Along with that are cultural, sports and folk art activities such as: boat racing, walking on stilts on the beach, tug of war, Kieu play performance night, Vi and Giam folk songs...

Model boats will be carried along the palanquin carrying the Dong Hai Dai Vuong's spirit tablet in the procession at the Cam Lam village fishing festival.

Mr. Tran Tien Luc - Head of the Cam Lam Village Fishing Festival Ritual Committee said: "Every three years, we perform the procession, but this is an important event, so the procession ritual will be performed on this occasion. To prepare for the ceremony and procession of Dong Hai Dai Vuong, the members of the ritual committee have been practicing the rituals regularly; at the same time, carefully preparing the means to carry the spirit tablet such as palanquins, umbrellas, canopies...

In addition, according to the assignment, the participants in the procession also exercised to perform the tasks for the upcoming ceremony. With sincerity, we tried to perform the ceremony in the most solemn way. Thereby, honoring the Dong Hai god as well as spreading the traditional cultural beauty of Cam Lam village."

Not only the people of Xuan Lien commune, many people of Ha Tinh are also excited when the Fishing Festival of Cam Lam village was honored as a national intangible cultural heritage. Mr. Pham Ba Phuong (Thien Loc commune, Can Loc) expressed: "Every time the cultural heritage of my homeland of Hong mountain and La river is honored, I feel happy. It is an opportunity for the cultural values ​​and beauty of Ha Tinh people to spread to friends near and far. That also affirms that Ha Tinh is a land rich in cultural values, which has been and is being cared for and promoted by all levels and sectors".

Dong Hai Temple (Lam Hoa village, Xuan Lien, Nghi Xuan) associated with the fishing festival was restored with 6 billion VND in social mobilization funds.

The Cam Lam fishing festival has become a national intangible cultural heritage, a source of pride for the government and people of Xuan Lien commune. To continue to preserve and promote the value of the festival, along with actively coordinating with Nghi Xuan District People's Committee to organize the ceremony to receive the heritage recognition certificate, in the coming time, we will continue to promote and maintain the festival culture... Thereby, spreading and multiplying the values ​​of the heritage left by our ancestors, as a driving force to encourage people to be determined to fulfill their goals and tasks, and build their homeland to develop more and more.

Mr. Le Quang Hung

Chairman of Xuan Lien Commune People's Committee

Angel

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/diem-den/tu-hao-khi-le-hoi-cau-ngu-lang-cam-lam-la-di-san-van-hoa-phi-vat-the-quoc-gia/262224.htm