As one of the major festivals in the province, the Cua Ong Temple Festival is held on the third day of the second lunar year in Cua Ong ward, Cam Pha city. The festival is a national intangible cultural heritage.
The festival impresses visitors with the procession of Duc Ong (Tran Quoc Tang) to his resting place. Leading the procession are dragon and unicorn dancers who are professional artists selected from the city's veteran dance teams. They devote special performances to the viewers.
The procession begins from the Thuong (Upper) Temple, going through the new road to the T-junction, then crossing the main street to the entrance to the Kim Dong Primary School, and passing through the 5B residential area to the monument of Duc Ong (Tran Quoc Tang) to beat the festive drum and perform flower offerings and dragon dances. Beside the rituals, the festival also includes diverse festive activities such as Quan Ho singing, boat racing, human chess playing, folk games like cock fighting, card game and stick pushing, and an ornamental creature exhibition...
The Cua Ong Temple Festival is held annually to commemorate the merit, life and career of Tran Quoc Tang, the third son of General Tran Quoc Tuan (Tran Hung Dao), the Supreme Commander of Vietnam during the Tran Dynasty, and the mandarins who made great contributions to the country and people worshiped in the Cua Ong Temple national historical-cultural relic site.
Article by Ngo Du - Minh Duc
