Ky Yen Festival in Mekong Delta

Ky Yen (Cau An) festival is the most important Tuletary God Worshipping in the year of a village in Mekong Delta. Passing generations to generations, Ky Yen festival has become a sacred ritual and traditional cultural activity of people in Mekong Delta.

The Tuletary God Worshipping annually takes place from the 14^th to the 16^th of the last month in Lunar Calendar. However, every three year, there will be a Great Ky Yen Festival with many rituals and activities.

The Tuletary God Worshipping is the time for locals to express gratitude to the founders or protectors of the village as well as pray for favorable weather and abundant crops. Every village in Mekong Delta has a village hall where people will gather on the festive days for witnessing sacred ceremony and taking part in traditional community-based activities.

To prepare for the ceremony, students in traditional festive clothes stand in rows in front of communal house. In the Great Dai Yen Festival, there will be many ceremonies with strict and sequent rituals. On the first day, there are four ceremonies: The processing ceremony, the honoring ceremony, the welcoming ceremony and the chanting ceremony. On the second and the third day, there are up to eight different ceremonies: Tuc Yet, Tinh Sang, Chanh Te, Tien Hien & Hau Hien, Xay Chau, Hat Chau, Hoi Chau and Hoi Sac. During the ceremonies, there is the combination of rituals and performances performed by folk artists.

On the festive days, besides sacred ceremonies, there are numerous exciting activities especially folk-song singing creating boisterous atmosphere. Lion dancing, boat racing and martial art fighting gain many people’s attention, making the gaiety picture of a land rich in beauty and culture. Interestingly, in some villages of Mekong Delta, under the moonlight, locals push off nicely decorated boats with hundred candles, flags and flowers making up the magical and sacred scenery.

Ky Yen Festival is a time for people to relax and build up love with their home land. It is also makes up the cultural characteristics of an agricultural land with the old rituals, intimate relationship between villagers and the rich spiritual life.