Five Cultural Festival in Coastal Binh Thuan Province

Right in the centre of Phan Thiet city, is the relic site of the Duc Thanh School, where Uncle Ho worked as a teacher during his journey to find ways for national salvation. To pay tribute to Uncle Ho, Binh Thuan organises the annual Mid-Autumn Festival, which takes place on August 15 (lunar calendar). The outstanding features of the festival are thousands of lanterns made with various meanings and processed on streets of the city. Visitors can see thousands of lanterns lit in a special atmosphere of the festival alongside soft and pleasant light of the moon.

 

The festival is a specific cultural activity, depicting the spiritual life of people who live in coastal areas. The festival is held to express trust to Quan Thanh De Quan (or Quan Kong) with a wish for peace for the country and favourable climatic conditions and bumper crops. This is a major festival, symbolising the traditions and religious belief of Chinese people in Phan Thiet. The festival attracts Chinese people from Ho Chi Minh City and other southern localities. The festival is held in July 15 (lunar calendar) every two years. During the festival, thousands of people disguised as characters from Chinese legends include groups performing dragon and lion dances. The festival attracts tens of thousands of local people and visitors.

 

Kate FestivalBinh Thuan is one of the provinces with many Cham people. There are still legends about the ethnic group and specific architectural works. One of the specific works is the Poshanu Tower, where the Kate Festival takes place. Kate is the most specific and important festival of the Cham people of the Balamon religion. The festival is held to worship gods and heroes and kings, such as Po Klong, Giarai and Porome. This is also an opportunity for the people to worship their ancestors. Kate is the Cham people’s Tet. The festival takes place on July 1 (Cham people’s calendar), or in October. During the festival, visitors will have an opportunity to enjoy the Cham people’s music performed with baranung (drum) and saranai (clarinet), and dances of charming Cham girls. Also, other activities, including pottery making, food and folk game contests, take place.

 

Ramuwan Festival
The Kate festival belongs to the Cham people of the Balamon religion and the Ramuwan festival belongs to the Islamic Cham people. The festival has existed for a long time. Its outstanding feature is that it is closely combined with life of every community member until his or her last minute. The festival takes place in Bac Binh every year. The worshiping part includes Amuram and Sut Yang, the cleaning and decoration of ancestors’ graves, Ramuwan month, and ‘Va ha’ ceremony. Festival activities consist of folk song and dances of the Cham people.

ThayThimTemple FestivalThe Thay Thim temple was built by local people to pay tribute to a magical couple from Quang Nam. The couple treated diseases for the local people, helping fishermen build ships and boats, praying for favourable climatic conditions and bumper crops. They then were sentenced to death by feudalists. The couple turned a ribbon into a dragon and flew to the south, before stopping at Tam Tan village. The festival is held from September 14-16 (lunar calendar) to worship the couple. The festival consists of activities, such as incense offering, ‘ba trao’ performances and sport competitions.