DOUBLE WILLOW FESTIVAL

Vu Lieu Doi is a typical village festival of Ha Nam culture. Every year, on the 5th day of the first lunar month, in Lieu Doi village, Liem Tuc commune, Thanh Liem district, Ha Nam province, a wrestling festival takes place to remember the merits of a young man named Doan who was good at martial arts and fought the enemy. save the country.

Attending the festival are residents of Lieu Doi village and villages with martial arts traditions from near and far. Lieu Doi wrestling festival allows women to participate, women can also compete with knives, clubs, swords, punches... no less than boys.

The ritual of conducting the festival is as follows: the beginning of the festival is the Holy Procession at close. Dong means the place where things are held, procession of saints in Dong means carrying the palanquin of the Saint from the temple to the place where things are held. The holy offering is a vegetarian offering, including a few oan products, a few banana peels, and a cup of tea (instead of wine). An old man holding a sword in his hand walks backwards leading the procession. When the Holy palanquin comes in, an offering ceremony is held. After the Holy Sacrifice Ceremony, there is the Fire Ceremony. People lit a big fire to commemorate the magical blue flame rising from the fiery sword that heaven gave to Lieu Doi land in Nuong Cui wing. Next is the Sword Giving and Peach Scarf Ceremony to commemorate the boy named Doan receiving the magic sword and peach scarf. Mr. Trum is a prestigious elder who is appointed to hold the drum for the association, hand over the sword on the holy palanquin and tie a peach scarf to an honorary wrestler appointed.

Next is the Gathering Flag Dance Ceremony, this dance is also called "The Heavenly and Human War". This dance has two or four participants, each with a square red flag, moving from both sides of the palanquin to the middle to dance to the drum signal. Next  is the Thanh Dong Ceremony. This ceremony begins with the continuous sound of the dong drum along with the sounds of bells, gongs, gongs, and bells at the martial arts wrestling area and all the temples and pagodas in the area respond in unison with enthusiastic cheers. floating.

After the above rituals, comes the wrestling match. At the end of the day, wrestlers can only wear loincloths and go shirtless. Many traditional local martial arts pieces in the competition make cheering spectators anxiously watch: armpits, ribs, gongs, cow pieces... truly mysterious and spectacular. The sound of gongs and drums resounded. In the match, malicious moves that harm the opponent are strictly prohibited such as: hooking the jaw, squeezing the genitals... anyone who intentionally violates will be kicked out, warned, and suspended for a period of time.

Lieu Doi wrestling festival demonstrates the martial spirit and solidarity of the Vietnamese people, upholds the ancestors' tradition of fighting against foreign invaders, and contributes to enriching the Vietnamese national cultural identity.

The 2009 Spring wrestling festival season took place at Long Doi Son along with the Tich Dien Festival with the participation of 6 teams from districts and cities. The organizing committee awarded 16 sets of medals including 09 ethnic sets and 07 freestyle sets to the wrestlers. At the same time, the first prize for the entire group belonged to Ly Nhan district; Second prize for the entire team went to Kim Bang district; Third prize for the entire group belonged to Binh Luc district./.