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Festivals in Vietnam Expressing reverence, maintaining ancient traditions, remembering dead heroes, commemorating important events, demonstrating sporting abilities, or simply entertaining the community, Vietnamese culture has a long tradition of colorful festivals. Beyond the national events, listed below, many local festivals take place throughout the year around the country. These can feature puppet shows, folk songs, traditional music, local dances, wrestling, rowing, rice cooking, rope pulling, rope climbing, chess playing, cockfights, buffalo fights, and pigeon races. There are also scores of regional festivals, often jointly celebrated by collections of villages. Many ethnic groups also celebrate festivals. January or February Tet (Tet Nguyen Dan) - Vietnamese and Chinese Lunar New Year- With a history that dates back thousands of years, the Tet festival was originally a celebration held by Vietnamese farmers to thank the gods for the arrival of spring, sometime between late January or early February, considered the first to seventh days of the first moon. Although officially a three-day affair, festivities may continue for a week or more with every effort made to indulge in eating, drinking, and enjoyable social activities. It is also a time for family reunions, and for paying respect to ancestors and the elders. Gifts of food are made to friends, neighbors and relatives in the days before Tet. March Hai Ba Trung Day - On the 6th day of the second lunar month the revolt of the Trung Sisters against the Chinese in 40 AD is celebrated. Holiday of the Dead (Thanh Minh) - On the fifth day of the third lunar month, homage is paid to departed ancestors and relatives by making solemn visits to and tidies up graves, with offerings of food, flowers, and incense. The graves are normally cleaned and tidied a few days prior. April Buddha's Birth, Enlightenment and Death - On this eight day of the fourth lunar month, people celebrate this day at pagodas and temples which like many private homes, are festooned with lanterns. Procession is held during evening. Now this festival is redesigned to be a public holiday. Liberation Day of South Vietnam - The 30th of April marks the fall of Saigon in 1975, and the final victory of the North Vietnamese Army. May Summer Solstice Day (Tiet Doan Ngo) - Celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, when offerings are made to the spirit, ghosts, and the God of Death to ward off pestilence and disease. Human effigies are burned to satisfy the requirements of the God of Death for souls to staff his army. August Mid-Autumn or Children's Moon Festival (Tet-Trung-Thu) - The essence of Tet-Trung-Thu, celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, is to promote education, culture, music, sports, arts and crafts, and poetry. This festival is especially dedicated to children, but adults also take part. Beginning at noon and ending at midnight, the festival includes folklore displays, children's games, lantern processions, performing shows, dances, martial arts demonstrations, arts and crafts exhibitions, food and drink booths, multicultural performances, essays, drawing and coloring contests. Delicacies include moon cakes, sticky rice, fruits and various sweets. Day of All Wandering Souls (Trung Nguyen) - This is the second largest Vietnamese festival of the year. The spirits of the dead are believed to frequent the residence of their offspring on this fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. Food is offered on house altars for the souls of the deceased, and fake paper money is burnt in their honor. There are also celebrations in Buddhist temples. September National Day (Quoc Khanh) - this day is the commemoration of the Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi by Ho Chi Minh on 2 September 1945. This article is authored
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