On the morning of January 25 (the 4th day of the Lunar New Year), the Dong Ky Fireworks Procession Festival (Tu Son, Bac Ninh) took place after 2 years of postponement due to Covid-19, thousands of people and tourists flocked and walked around. followed the lively procession.
The Dong Ky village firecracker festival taking place on the 4th day of the lunar new year is recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. This is also the opening festival for a series of festivals extending through the second lunar month throughout the northern provinces.
Right from 7 am, Dong Ky people gathered at the traditional house area, preparing the stages for the procession of firecrackers to the communal house.
Every year, Dong Ky village will choose 4 people who turn 50 in each armor, as 4 generals to fight the enemy (called Quan Dam). Each general is responsible for organizing troops as well as making cannons from small to large, the small one (the fourth cannon) is about 5m long, the largest one (the biggest cannon) can be up to 15m long, the cannon shape is a cylinder. round, the diameter can be up to more than 1m.
Each firecracker is carried by 30 young people in the village, taking turns carrying and procession along the village road from the traditional house to the communal house yard to celebrate.
Along the two sides of the road from the traditional house to the communal house in the middle village, many people from Dong Ky, neighboring areas and tourists from all over the world come to attend and admire the most colorful festivals in the northern provinces. Following the Government’s decision to ban firecrackers since 1994, the festival’s form has changed a bit, there is no longer a firecracker festival, and the current fireworks are just fake fireworks for the festival.
The weather is cold but full of warm sunshine on the 4th day of the New Year, making the festival even more crowded and bustling. Many families bring tables and chairs to sit in front of the house to watch the procession pass by.
These boys are responsible for carrying the four Quan Dam men to dance at the climax of the festival.
Thousands of people packed the communal house yard to attend the Quan Dam procession.
The Mr. Dams were carried on their shoulders by young men who were in good health, performing dance movements as if to encourage the spirit of the soldiers and as if to say goodbye to the people going to fight the enemy.
Quan Dam dressed up as a girl to entertain everyone, while the young people jostled and jostled around, the mandarin who was kept standing the longest would be the winner.