Dong Bang Temple Festival 2025

Dong Bang Temple Festival is significant for the spiritual lives of locals and tourists. This is the big festival of the four palaces in the region, the most significant gathering occasion for old men and women from all parts of the country to gather.

Dong Bang Temple Festival 

The traditional Vietnamese festival attitude is “Dad's death anniversary is in August, and Mother's death anniversary is in March”. Phu Giay Festival (Nam Dinh) in March is dedicated to the worship of Mother Lieu Hanh, while Dong Bang Temple Festival (Thai Binh) in August is dedicated to the worship of King Bat Hai Dong Dinh.

Overview

Every year on August 20 (lunar month), the Plain of Rivals is celebrated, and the temple gets filled with tourists from far and wide anxious to join the event. People will participate in two major activities during the festival: the ceremony and the festival. The temples of Mau Sinh, First, Nhi, Tam, Quan Dieu That, and Quan De Bat will be paraded to the Temple of Father Bat Hai as part of the ritual. Following that, there will be a ritual to present incense, an open gong, a drum dance to celebrate, a card procession,... The festival will be quite loud, with folk games and pastimes such as tug of war, swimming brush, chess, wrestling, and cockfighting,...

Dong Bang Temple

Special activities at the festival

The festival will take place for 6 days (from August 20 to 26 of the lunar calendar).

On August 20, ceremonies took place in Dong Bang temple. The following days continue these rituals, but on August 20th is the busiest day of the festivals.

On the morning of August 21, the villagers carried out a procession of cards of the gods to the swimming communal house. The procession is extremely solemn and majestic, reverent. When the tablets of the gods have presented the incense, the smoke is in the air, the worshiping ceremony begins. It is believed that so the father king and other gods will return to watch the boat racing village.

On August 22, 23, 24, and 25, the boat racing festival takes place in an exciting competitive atmosphere, attracting a large number of people and tourists from all over the world to participate.

Boat racing festival is a type of folklore activity that include the good traditional values of a nation, expressing the spirit of national solidarity, community consciousness, cultural and sports values, and entertainment. The Boat Racing Association still exists to this day to remind descendants of the great merits of Hung Dao Dai Vuong and the generals of the Tran Dynasty in the great historic victory of Bach Dang.

There are several special activities at the event

On August 26, after 6 days of excitement, the festival ended with a solemn and respectful procession. It is the procession of the king and the palace gods to the Dong Bang temple. The festival ended in the excitement and hope of a prosperous business year for the villagers.

The meaning of Dong Bang Temple Festival

Dong Bang Temple Festival preserves the beauty of traditional culture, and high human values, is an opportunity to express gratitude, the tradition of "drinking water, remember the source" and the people's admiration and respect for King Father Bat Hai Dong Dinh Vuong and Quoc Cong Thiet Hung Dao Dai Vuong. 

The festival is also considered a bridge between the past and the present, as one of the traditional cultural education environments for the younger generation. At the same time, the festival is also a place to satisfy the people's cultural and spiritual needs, this place is considered one of the most important religious centers of the four palaces in our country. Every year, people and tourists from all over the country flock here to bring their wishes and prayers for a happy and prosperous life.

Dong Bang Temple is a spiritual site that draws visitors from all around

Dong Bang Temple Festival is an opportunity to inherit, promote, and maintain our forefathers' good cultural values. At the same time, it caters to the spiritual requirements of visitors from all over the world who come to worship and sightsee. This is just one of several unique celebrations in Vietnam.  Prepare your Vietnam tour soon so that you may take part in these exceptional celebrations!