The La Phu Village Festival takes place in early spring to honour the tutelary god of the village, Tinh Quoc Tam Lang.
According to legend, he made great contributions in defending the country during the reign of King Hung Due Vuong.
The festival features many unique rituals, the most distinctive being the custom of rearing, parading, and offering pigs to the village deity.
It is said that whenever Duc Thanh Tam Lang gathered his troops to fight invaders, villagers would cook sticky rice and pork to reward the soldiers. This custom has been maintained by the local people to the present day.
In preparation for the following year’s festival, from the previous spring, villagers in La Phu select male pigs that meet strict standards.
On the festival day, the pigs are slaughtered, placed on palanquins, decorated beautifully, and paraded to the communal house to be offered to the deity.
The procession and rituals take place on the night of the 13th and the morning of the 14th day of the first lunar month. After the offerings are made and lowered, the pigs are taken back to the host families and divided among households for good fortune.
At the ceremony, leaders of the Ha Noi People’s Committee handed over the Certificate recognising the La Phu Village Festival as National Intangible Cultural Heritage to representatives of An Khanh Commune authorities and La Phu villagers.
Earlier on October 5, local authorities and residents held a procession bringing the certificate back to the communal house, followed by rituals, incense offerings to the tutelary god, and various cultural and artistic activities.
Notably, at noon on October 5, La Phu villagers revived the ritual of singing at the communal house gate — a form of ca tru performance that was regularly practised at the La Phu Festival before 1954, but had since been interrupted due to social changes.
