Van Don traditional festival, or Quan Lan Festival, is part of the flow of traditional celebrations along the northern coast, but it has distinct qualities that set it apart from traditional festivals in general. This is a historical festival as well as a series of folk cultural and religious events infused with the sea and island culture of the Van Don sea area residents.

A brief of Quan Lan Festival

People commonly think of Ha Long Bay when they think of Quang Ninh, but there is also Quan Lan Island, which hosts the unique Quan Lan festival.

Festival time

Quan Lan festival is held in Quan Lan, Van Don, Quang Ninh from the 10th to the 20th of the 6th lunar month to honor Tran Khanh Du, a prominent Tran dynasty general.

This celebration is held by the people of Quan Lan Island, which is located in the ancient Van Don commercial hub. The festival site is also a port where Quan Lan Temple, one of the few old temples to survive, is located.

Quan Lan festival is celebrated every year

Meaning of the festival

Quan Lan Festival is an annual festival of the locals on Quan Lan Island to remember the historic victory against Mongol invaders in the 13th century and pray for a good fishing season in the year.

So, the festival was organized grandly to show the chivalric spirit of the nation against foreign invaders to protect the country's sovereignty of the people in the sea.  Visit Quan Lan at this time, visitors can discover more unique local cultural features of the people of Van Don island.

This is also an occasion for the people of Van Don island district and tourists from all over the world to gather to review the tradition of our ancestors against foreign invaders who protected the sacred sovereignty of the Fatherland, and at the same time, it is also a festival to pray for fish coastal residents. And for the people of Quan Lan Island commune, this is also a village festival for relatives and brothers who have been away from home for a long time to have the opportunity to meet each other in their homeland.

The festival is celebrated with great excitement

Quan Lan Festival program

• On the 10th day of the sixth lunar month: at the center of the festival, the village locks god flag is hoisted up, and the military drum is also beaten to signal foreign invaders. According to custom, from this day on, people in the village are not allowed to go anywhere, but those who do business far away and tourists from all over the world can return to the village to attend the festival. Therefore, the 10th day of the sixth lunar month is also known as Quan Lan village lock day.
• June 12-15 of the lunar calendar: These days are very exciting because activities such as soldiers practice, sacrifice ceremony takes place at Gieng village temple.
• On the 16th day of the sixth lunar month: the palanquin procession took place at Tran Khanh Du temple with the presence of many martial artists, generals, Buddhist monks, and nuns everywhere, people on the island, tourists,... All of them wholeheartedly brought the mortuary tablets of Tran Khanh Du to the temple.

On the 10th of June in the lunar calendar, Quan Lan will fly the flag "Lock Village"

• On the 17th day of the 6th lunar month: the morning of this day, the generals and soldiers set up camp to make a battle plan for the 18th. In the evening, cultural and artistic activities take place.
• On the 18th day of the sixth lunar month: at 2 am, the whole village attends the drumming of the army. In the morning, cultural activities, folk games such as wrestling, tug of war, human chess,..., or lion dance will continue to take place. All took place excitingly under the sound of drums and gongs of the generals.
• On the afternoon of June 18, the most attractive swimming contest (also known as rowing swimming) of the whole festival took place to commemorate the old achievements of the islanders. There are 2 boats for 2 teams, the boat that touches the destination flag first and returns to get the destination flag and returns first is the winner. The winning team will receive a standing ovation from the villagers, receive a prize, and return to celebrate with everyone. This is considered the most exciting activity of the whole festival.

The most attractive part of the festival is the rowing competition

Quan Lan festival is a traditional village event that expresses the martial spirit and fights against foreign invaders of the land. Yet, this is only one of several distinct traditional festivals in Vietnam. If you enjoy cultural activities, plan a tour to Vietnam to partake in them!