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| Pen mightier than the sword: The festival features calligraphy writing - a Vietnamese tradition at Spring festive events. |
Viet Nam News
The festival centres around Lim Pagoda, located on top of Lim Hill where the creators of quan họ (love-duet singing) are worshipped.
Ten of thousands of people gathered this week at Lim Town in Tiên Du District, Bắc Ninh Province for one of the country’s oldest and largest Spring festive events: the Lim Festival.
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| Enchanting: Women in traditional outfits performing love-duet singing on top of Lim Hill. — Photos Huy Hùng - Thùy Dương |
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| Down and dirty: Two wrestlers compete during the festival’s wrestling competition. |
Quan họ, as locals believe, was created based on the legend of a fisherman named Trương Chi, who had an excellent voice. His love, a highborn lady, fell for him just by listening to his singing as he was paddling down the river. Trương and his lover were never meant to be because of the difference and their status and he later died of a broken heart.
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| Time-honoured: Male and female singers on a boat, a tradition carried down from the old time of the Tiêu Tương River. |
Typically lasting for 3-4 days, the Lim Festival consists of two major elements: worship ceremonies to honour local deities and festive activities such as wrestling competitions, cock fighting, calligraphy writing and love-duet singing.—VNS
