Elderly fisherman Le Van Le has never failed to attend thefish-worshipping festival held every year on the 16th day of the firstlunar month in Thanh Khe village in central Da Nang city.
This year's two-day festival on a 12-km stretch of beach in Thanh Khe ended on Feb. 8.
Le,66, is just one of the 4,000 villagers, 80 percent of whom are seafishermen, who religiously take part in the ceremony, and lately, he hasbecome one of the festival's organisers.
"The annual festival isan indispensable part of life in the village and as culturallyimportant as the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday. The festival is held inthe hope of winning favour with the sea god," Le said.
"Fishermenoften host festivals in the middle of the first lunar month, which isthe start of the fishing season. Most trawlers go to the sea as soon asthe festival ends."
The festival, which was first held in 1893, is the village's biggest event of the year.
On the first day of this year's festival, local residents set launched 300 paper flower garlands into the sea.
"Duringthe ceremony people pray for the dead and to the god of the sea.Fishermen believe by so doing they will have a safe year and goodcatches," Ho Van Ngan said.
Ngan, 77, who retired from fishing 10 years ago, said he took part in the procession each year without fail.
"Worshippingthe god of the sea and saying prayers for the dead fishermen is veryimportant to us. It helps to reassure fishermen who face constantdangers when at sea," Ngan said.
During the ceremony, 100 elderly fishermen carried a sedan in a procession from the sea to the beach.
A team of 12 young men acted as boatmen paddling from the sea to beach.
Symbolically,they are carrying the god of the sea to the mainland, where he istraditionally offered a boiled pig's head and three trays of food andfruits.
During the festival there were also competitionsinvolving cooking, fishing net weaving and folk singing. In an averageyear, the village's 35 trawlers catch about 8,000 tonnes of seafood,with each fishermen earning between 3-5 million VND (150-250 USD) amonth.
Le said he is a fifth-generation fisherman and earns a good living from the sea.
"Ihave two trawlers, which earn 200 million VND each month from tunacatches. However, we also pay out a lot in production costs, whichinclude wages and fuel, to say nothing of fluctuating fish prices."
LeNguyen Khanh, chairman of Thanh Khe Farmers Association, said thevillage has also begun to promote tourism services, which has provedprofitable.
"The village has a long pristine beach and we hopethat local people can improve their income through tourism services. Butwe need to formulate a master plan with the city's administration,"Khanh said.
Despite the well-wishes of the festival-goers to thesea god, the wind has recently picked up preventing the fishermen fromgoing to sea. But the fishermen are still hopeful their prayers will beanswered.
"I delayed my trip for a few days because the weatheris bad," Le said. "However, I expect this year will be particularlyprosperous because the tuna price has increased from 25,000 to 30,000VND per kg. It's a good sign for us in the new year."/.
This year's two-day festival on a 12-km stretch of beach in Thanh Khe ended on Feb. 8.
Le,66, is just one of the 4,000 villagers, 80 percent of whom are seafishermen, who religiously take part in the ceremony, and lately, he hasbecome one of the festival's organisers.
"The annual festival isan indispensable part of life in the village and as culturallyimportant as the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday. The festival is held inthe hope of winning favour with the sea god," Le said.
"Fishermenoften host festivals in the middle of the first lunar month, which isthe start of the fishing season. Most trawlers go to the sea as soon asthe festival ends."
The festival, which was first held in 1893, is the village's biggest event of the year.
On the first day of this year's festival, local residents set launched 300 paper flower garlands into the sea.
"Duringthe ceremony people pray for the dead and to the god of the sea.Fishermen believe by so doing they will have a safe year and goodcatches," Ho Van Ngan said.
Ngan, 77, who retired from fishing 10 years ago, said he took part in the procession each year without fail.
"Worshippingthe god of the sea and saying prayers for the dead fishermen is veryimportant to us. It helps to reassure fishermen who face constantdangers when at sea," Ngan said.
During the ceremony, 100 elderly fishermen carried a sedan in a procession from the sea to the beach.
A team of 12 young men acted as boatmen paddling from the sea to beach.
Symbolically,they are carrying the god of the sea to the mainland, where he istraditionally offered a boiled pig's head and three trays of food andfruits.
During the festival there were also competitionsinvolving cooking, fishing net weaving and folk singing. In an averageyear, the village's 35 trawlers catch about 8,000 tonnes of seafood,with each fishermen earning between 3-5 million VND (150-250 USD) amonth.
Le said he is a fifth-generation fisherman and earns a good living from the sea.
"Ihave two trawlers, which earn 200 million VND each month from tunacatches. However, we also pay out a lot in production costs, whichinclude wages and fuel, to say nothing of fluctuating fish prices."
LeNguyen Khanh, chairman of Thanh Khe Farmers Association, said thevillage has also begun to promote tourism services, which has provedprofitable.
"The village has a long pristine beach and we hopethat local people can improve their income through tourism services. Butwe need to formulate a master plan with the city's administration,"Khanh said.
Despite the well-wishes of the festival-goers to thesea god, the wind has recently picked up preventing the fishermen fromgoing to sea. But the fishermen are still hopeful their prayers will beanswered.
"I delayed my trip for a few days because the weatheris bad," Le said. "However, I expect this year will be particularlyprosperous because the tuna price has increased from 25,000 to 30,000VND per kg. It's a good sign for us in the new year."/.
