When fishermen have a whale of a time
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Having a coastline of 3,260 km means for Vietnam the sea is intimately connected with its economy, culture, and history and has had a major influence on them.
Not surprisingly, fishing communities have traditionally celebrated festivals throughout the year, mostly to revere nature and invoke its blessings.
With the New Year just past, the celebrations reach a crescendo as people pray for a lucky year, good weather, good catches, and just good luck.
As an old Vietnamese saying has it, the first month of a year is for making merry.
Traveling south from Quang Ninh through 22 provinces, one can witness festivals one after another.
In Phan Thiet, for hundreds of years a boat race dressed in splendid costumes has taken place on the Ca Ty River on the second day of the New Year.
Local coracles also join in and compete for the prize.
City dwellers flock to the river banks, which are a splash of red due to team flags, and cheer the teams.
As the race began, a spectator managed to shout to us amid the clamor of the excited crowds: “Yeah it is a yearly tradition we are all proud of. It symbolizes our strength and determination versus the power of nature.”
More solemn but no less important is the Nghinh Ong Festival (Welcome the Guardian), the most widely celebrated festival from Quang Binh Province down, each place with its own version of it.
The festival is closely connected with locals’ practice of worshipping whales which are believed to guard fishermen at sea.
Tales of fishermen protected from sharks or brought ashore after their boats were wrecked have been handed down through generations and retold time and again to pay tribute to the huge mammals.
No matter how far they are out at sea, fishermen always make it back home in time to attend what is the year’s biggest festival for them.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the Nghinh Ong Festival celebrated in Can Gio District features a procession towards the sea from a temple where the whale is worshipped.
Along its route, fishermen and their families make votive offerings and burn incense to pray for a year of good catches and blessings.
“We fishermen never use his real name, but refer to him as ‘Mr’ to show our respect and gratitude,” one local whispered amid the solemn atmosphere as the procession passed.
The procession then climbs aboard the main golden dragon boat which is escorted by groups of flamboyantly decorated fishing boats.
Offerings presented, the flotilla returns to shore where groups of lion and dragon dancers formally welcome the spirit of the sacred guardian back to the temple.
The festival then turns lively with traditional singing and dancing and theatrical and sports performances in which fishermen and other locals eagerly participate.
After a year of hard and dangerous work at sea, the fishermen deservedly let their hair down.
