Ky Yen Thuong Dien festival - Can Tho’s biggest festival

A performance at the opening of Ky Yen Thuong Dien festival at Binh Thuy communal house in 2023. (Photo: VNA)

Can Tho (VNA) – Ky Yen Thuong Dien festival at Binh Thuy communal house in Binh Thuy district is the biggest festival in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

It is held at the fourth lunar month every year.

Binh Thuy communal house or Binh Thuy temple (also known as Long Tuyen Ancient Shrine), about 5km from Cen Tho city’s centre, has great architectural values, beearing the marks of local people during the reclamation period of the Southwest region.

According to historical records, Binh Thuy temple was first built in 1844 with the initial name of Long Tuyen. However, as it is located in Binh Thuy ward of Binh Thuy district, local people call it Binh Thuy temple.   

The communal house is dedicated to the tutelary deity who protects the local land, along with many mandarins and heroes who have made contributions to the country such as Dinh Cong Trang, Nguyen Trung Truc, Bui Huu Nghia. 

In 1989, it was recognised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism as a national architectural and artistic relic.

Outside the communal house, there are two large shrines worshiping Than Nong (God of Agriculture) and Than Ho (Tiger God). There are two other shrines near the gate, worshiping the God of the Forest and the God of Canal.

The Ky Yen festivat at Binh Thuy communal house is held to show gratitude to the people who reclaimed the land. The festival also reflects people’s wishes for favourable weather, national peace and prosperity, and bumper crops, and promotes community connection.

With great significance and humanistic rituals, in January 2018, the Ky Yen Dinh Binh Thuy Festival was recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

The festival is held twice a year, with the first called Thuong Dien (opening crop) held from the 12th -14th in the fourth lunar month and Ha Dien (ending crop) from the 14th - 15th in the 12th lunar month.  

The Ky Yen Festival in Binh Thuy Communal House is convincing proof of the settlement of Vietnamese people on this land, the featured culture of wet rice, and the tradition of gratitude. Not only does the festival enrich people’s spiritual lives, but it also preserves and transmits cultural values. Furthermore, it meets the spiritual and recreational needs of local people and unites the community.

A sticky-rice cooking and arrangement contest is held within the framework of the festival in 2023. (Photo: VNA)

This year, the Ky Yen Thuong Dien Festival at Binh Thuy Communal House takes place from May 30 to the early morning of June 1 (the 12th - 14th of the fourth lunar month). Besides the traditional rituals, festive activities will be held such as a book exhibition, calligraphy performance, tourism promotional programme, traditional musical performance, traditional cake-making contest and exhibition, cycling tournament, and a Chinese Chess (Xiangqi) tournament.

According to the Vice Chairman of Binh Thuy district People's Committee Le Phuoc Loi, the Ky Yen Festival is a unique cultural and spiritual activity, contributes to preserving the long-standing traditional values of the land and people of Can Tho.

Loi said that in the coming time, Binh Thuy authorities would actively coordinate with the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to develop the festival into an annual tourism, cultural and religious event at city-level, and turn the communal house into a unique and attractive cultural tourist destination./.