{"id":3832,"date":"2026-07-21T02:24:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/?post_type=news&p=3832"},"modified":"2026-07-21T02:24:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:24:58","slug":"xuong-dong-festival","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/news\/xuong-dong-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Before the rice planting, the whole village goes down to the paddies: visiting a farming festival on an island in Ha Long Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Ha Nam Island in Quang Ninh Province in northern Vietnam, a festival was held in which the whole village \"descends\" into the paddies before transplanting rice. This farming rite, called Xuong dong (meaning \"to go down into the field\"), opened on July 18\u201319, 2026, at the historic site of Dinh Coc (the Coc village communal house) in Phong Coc Ward. Though right next to the World Heritage site of Ha Long Bay, the original scenery of a rice-farming island untouched by tourism still survives here in the form of a festival.<\/p>\n

The opening ceremony was held just before the rice-planting season begins. The festival aims to rally community unity and lift enthusiasm for productive labor. It is also an event tied to the 2026 'National Tourism Year.' After a solemn rite, the traditional performing art 'cheo,' displays of local products, a rice-transplanting skills contest, and wooden-boat races on the Cua Dinh River unfolded over two days.<\/p>\n

Rice farming on Ha Nam Island and the ritual of \"going down into the paddy\"<\/h2>\n

Ha Nam Island is a low, marshy reclaimed land opening at the mouth of the Bach Dang River, a place where people have protected their fields while exposed to typhoons and floods. The origin of the Cuong Don Festival lies in agrarian rites: \"ha dien,\" announcing the start of field work, and \"thuong dien,\" giving thanks after the harvest. Handed down over decades, it once died out, but was revived by local hands in 2007 and has since become an annual event.<\/p>\n

This island is also land where predecessors ringed the low ground between river and sea with dikes and turned it, little by little, into rice paddies. Maintaining dikes and channels that no one could protect alone left no choice but to join forces as a community. The custom of everyone going down into the paddies before transplanting arose naturally from that life of shared labor. So the festival is both a rite praying for a good harvest and a signal for the whole village to begin the year's farming.<\/p>\n

At the festival's heart is gratitude to the god of agriculture, Than Nong, and to Thanh Hoang, the deity who guards the village. People pray for favorable weather and a good harvest and, as a village, reaffirm their resolve to keep living in this flood-prone land. The very act of \"descending\" into the paddies is the community's statement of facing nature. Folk customs preserved at the village level like this dot northern Vietnam\u2014for example, the village known for woodblock printsDong Ho village<\/a>like this, a culture binding daily life and faith still lives on. In 2024, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism listed the Cuong Dong Festival as national intangible cultural heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Item<\/th>\nDetails<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Venue<\/td>\nDinh Coc historic site, Phong Coc Ward, Quang Ninh Province (former Quang Yen district, Ha Nam Island)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Period<\/td>\nEarly sixth month of the lunar calendar (July 18\u201319 in 2026) \/ once a year<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Main rites<\/td>\nRites to the God of Agriculture and the tutelary deity, and the first rice planting by the village elder<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Main events<\/td>\nRice-planting contest, boat race on the Cua Dinh River (16 teams), cheo performances, local products exhibition<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Heritage listing<\/td>\n2024, national intangible cultural heritage (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Access<\/td>\nAbout 20 km from central Ha Long City; about 2 hours by car from Hanoi (both approximate)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

The people who sustain the festival, and their words<\/h2>\n

The host, the Phong Coc ward People's Committee, frames the festival's meaning as \"summoning unity and lifting the spirit of productive labor.\" Its role as more than a yearly event-as a place to pass island life to the next generation-comes through in the opening ceremony's intent. In the rite, a village elder plants the first seedling in the paddy, and at that signal everyone enters the field at once. This order carries respect for experienced elders and an affirmation of the community's unity.<\/p>\n

The local paper Quang Ninh reports on the women who star in the rice-planting contest. Wearing brown farm clothes, they line up in a row and compete on the speed and beauty of their planting. The reporter describes this as an expression of the skill and competitive spirit that local farmers have cultivated over the years. The boat race, too, unlike the oar-rowing elsewhere, uses Coc village's own method of poling off the riverbed, with men's and women's teams competing. This year, 16 teams from settlements in the neighboring Phong Coc and Lien Hoa wards took part, vying while banked crowds along the riverside cheered. The boat race has three stages\u2014the \"yot\" that announces the opening, the main \"giai ha,\" and the closing final\u2014making it a day that stakes not just victory but the pride of one community against another.<\/p>\n

The assessment from cultural authorities is clear as well. In its listing as national intangible cultural heritage, reporting frames the festival as a folk custom praying for 'quoc thai dan an'\u2014the peace of the nation and the calm of its people. More than a harvest prayer, the phrase shows how prayers for the region's safety and unity are rooted in the history of people living on reclaimed land.<\/p>\n

If you're visiting: timing, getting there, and how to enjoy it<\/h2>\n

The Xuong Dong festival is held only once a year in early June of the lunar calendar, so checking the dates in advance is essential if you plan to visit. In 2026 it was held in mid-July, but because it follows the lunar calendar, the Gregorian date shifts each year. Confirm the local announcements before making plans.<\/p>\n

To get there, figure about two hours by car from Hanoi, with the destination the former Quang Yen area of Quang Ninh Province. It's close to central Ha Long, about 20 km, with good access from Hai Phong too. All times and distances are rough guides that shift with the day's traffic. The venue, Dinh Coc, sits along the river, and on boat-race days a large LED screen is set up so you can watch from a distance. A good way to enjoy it is to catch the morning rite and the rice-planting contest, then flow into the afternoon boat races. Since you'll get close to the paddies at times, bring casual clothes you don't mind dirtying and strong sun protection. The local-produce displays are also a chance to hunt for souvenirs unique to the area. To feel the festival's energy up close, the best thing is to follow the faces of the women in the planting contest and the rowers pulling the boats. What you'll watch from the riverbank isn't a display arranged for tourists but people who actually live here competing and praying in earnest.<\/p>\n

Together with Ha Long Bay, extend your trip to island life<\/h2>\n

The Quan Dong festival's greatest value lies in this: it sits right beside a famous tourist site yet was not made for tourism. Add half a day to a day before or after a Ha Long Bay cruise, and you can take in the World Heritage scenery and the everyday life of a rice-farming island on one trip. On the bay,Riding a fisherman's wooden sailboat<\/a>has also been revived, so you can plan an itinerary that visits sea life and rice-field life back to back. The area around the Bach Dang River, the festival's setting, is also the historic battlefield of the famous Battle of Bach Dang, leaving plenty of room to combine it with a tour of historic sites. If you're after a lively festival, the seaside bon odori isDa Nang's Vietnam-Japan cultural festival<\/a>there are events like this, but what the Cuong Don Festival shows is the opposite: unadorned time for a rural village's prayers.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/h2>\n

Before transplanting, the whole village goes down into the paddies. Ha Nam Island's Quan Dong festival is a simple agrarian rite praying for a good harvest and for unity, yet it mirrors the very history of reclaimed land that has faced down floods. Named national intangible cultural heritage in 2024 and featured in the 2026 National Tourism Year, it is opening up to visitors from outside. If you're after a trip that touches island life\u2014something apart from Ha Long Bay's glamour\u2014standing in a paddy in the sixth lunar month is well worth it.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • B\u00e1o V\u0103n h\u00f3a, \"Qu\u1ea3ng Ninh: Khai m\u1ea1c L\u1ec5 h\u1ed9i xu\u1ed1ng \u0111\u1ed3ng, kh\u01a1i d\u1eady tinh th\u1ea7n \u0111o\u00e0n k\u1ebft\" (July 20, 2026)<\/li>\n
  • B\u00e1o Qu\u1ea3ng Ninh\u300cL\u1ec5 h\u1ed9i xu\u1ed1ng \u0111\u1ed3ng – n\u00e9t v\u0103n h\u00f3a \u0111\u1eadm v\u1ecb l\u00e0ng qu\u00ea \u1edf H\u00e0 Nam\u300d<\/li>\n
  • Nong nghiep Huu co, 'Quang Ninh: Tung bung Le hoi Xuong dong phuong Phong Coc' (July 20, 2026)<\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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