In the spring of 2019, I had a chance to visit the Lim festival in Bac Ninh and it became the most memorable experience for me. The Lim festival is one of the most famous feast-days in Viet Nam. Situated in Van Tuong, Tien Son, Bac Ninh, Lim pagoda located on the top of Hong Van mountain. Visitors come there to make some wishes about luck, health, prosperities, ect. . . and they also pray for their wishes to come true. The Lim festival is held annually on the 13th of lunar January but it was canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As other festival in Viet Nam, Lim festival is also divided into 2 parts: festival section and ceremony section. The centre of this festival is the beginning when they pick up tutelary god of village, male and female who have deserve service to the country in the Co Lang temple, Hong Van tomb, Do Nguyen Thuy tomb. The crowed of village who join in this procession all wore colorful antique costumes. After this parade, people started to thurify and worship Buddha along with midwife A in Hong Van temple. The atmosphere there was really great but there were too many people, so it was really hard for me to watch all the parade. The ceremony section is funnier and has more things to do. After the pilgrimage, tourist can join many outside activities such as wrestling, cooking rice examination, human chess, . . . But I think the most attracted activity in Lim festival is Hat Hoi. Lien Anh (male) wore Xep scarf and Lien Chi (female) wore Non Quai Thao, they will sing some specific songs of Bac Ninh. These songs are known as Quan Ho Bac Ninh which was recognized as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2009 by UNESCO. Quan Ho Bac Ninh is mixed between rhythm and poem, these songs often talk about love, the conditions of people and objects, also the husband and wife life, ect. . . . Until now I have never forgotten that flow, it always repeats in my mind when I remember about the Lim festival.
Beside all the attractions in Lim festival, there is a negative point that I do not like there. It is about the waste problem. Because thousands of people come there each feast-day, the amount of trash is very huge. Actually, I easily found a rubbish bin on the way I went, but I seldom see a person that throws garbage in the right place. All that garbage was going to damage the environment in Lim Pagoda. I was really worried to see the scene after tourists went and all the things left over in Lim pagoda were just trash and garbage. I hope every tourist who comes to the Lim festival in the future will pay attention at that point and throw the garbage in the rubbish bin. This action looks small to a person, but if
thousands of tourists all do that, there will not be any Lim pagoda or Lim festival in the future.
The Lim festival is one of the light spots in spiritual tourism of VietNam, it attracts thousands of tourists each year. In spite of some weakness about garbage problems, price, … I think the government will have solutions in the near future. Hopefully each tourist will have some behaviors to prevent Lim pagoda from rubbish and to make Lim pagoda become a worthy place to visit.
In the spring of 2019, I had a chance to visit the
Lim
festival
in
Bac
Ninh
and it became the most memorable experience for me. The
Lim
festival
is one of the most
famous
feast-days in
Viet
Nam. Situated in
Van
Tuong
,
Tien
Son,
Bac
Ninh
,
Lim
pagoda
located on the top of Hong
Van
mountain. Visitors
come
there to
make
some
wishes about luck, health,
prosperities
,
ect
.
.
.
and
they
also
pray for their wishes to
come
true. The
Lim
festival
is held
annually
on the 13th of lunar January
but
it
was canceled
in 2020 and 2021
because
of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As other
festival
in
Viet
Nam,
Lim
festival
is
also
divided into 2 parts:
festival
section and ceremony section. The
centre
of this
festival
is the beginning when they pick up tutelary god of village, male and female who have
deserve
service to the country in the Co Lang temple, Hong
Van
tomb, Do Nguyen
Thuy
tomb. The crowed of village who
join
in this procession all wore colorful antique costumes. After this parade,
people
started
to
thurify
and worship Buddha along with midwife A in Hong
Van
temple. The atmosphere there was
really
great
but
there were too
many
people
,
so
it was
really
hard
for me to
watch
all the parade. The ceremony section is funnier and has more things to do. After the pilgrimage,
tourist
can
join
many
outside activities such as wrestling, cooking rice examination, human chess
, .
.
.
But
I
think
the most attracted activity in
Lim
festival
is Hat
Hoi
. Lien
Anh
(male) wore
Xep
scarf and Lien Chi (female) wore Non
Quai
Thao
, they will sing
some
specific songs of
Bac
Ninh
. These songs
are known
as
Quan
Ho
Bac
Ninh
which
was recognized
as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2009 by UNESCO.
Quan
Ho
Bac
Ninh
is mixed
between rhythm and poem, these songs
often
talk about
love
, the conditions of
people
and objects,
also
the husband and wife life,
ect
.
.
.
.
Until
now I
have never forgotten that flow, it always repeats in my mind when I remember about the
Lim
festival.
Beside all the attractions in
Lim
festival
, there is a
negative
point that I do not like there. It is about the waste problem.
Because
thousands of
people
come
there each feast-day, the amount of trash is
very
huge. Actually, I
easily
found a rubbish bin on the way I went,
but
I seldom
see
a person that throws garbage in the right place. All that garbage was going to damage the environment in
Lim
Pagoda
. I was
really
worried to
see
the scene after
tourists
went and all the things
left
over in
Lim
pagoda
were
just
trash and garbage. I hope every
tourist
who
comes
to the
Lim
festival
in the future will pay attention at that point and throw the garbage in the rubbish bin. This action looks
small
to a person,
but
if
thousands
of
tourists
all do that, there will not be any
Lim
pagoda
or
Lim
festival
in the future.
The
Lim
festival
is one of the light spots in spiritual tourism of
VietNam
, it attracts thousands of
tourists
each year.
In spite of
some
weakness about garbage problems, price, … I
think
the
government
will have solutions in the near future.
Hopefully
each
tourist
will have
some
behaviors to
prevent
Lim
pagoda
from rubbish and to
make
Lim
pagoda
become a worthy place to visit.