Elephant Festival in Hanoi

Festivals not only increases social interaction among various cross section of the society but also provides a refreshing relief from the monotony and drudgery of the daily life and inspires us to look past our sorrows and disappointments in life and revitalize our spirit to move ahead in life. Festivals in any nation reflect the tradition and cultural heritage. People usually have a tendency to spontaneously relate festivals with joyous celebrations and festive spirits but its true significance surpasses its visible outer expression and it forms an intrinsic aspect of the social perspective of a country and embodies the religious beliefs and faiths of the people.

Vietnam is one of the most beautiful and fascinating nation of the world and is a vibrant assimilation of diverse culture and tradition which gets reflected through the wide range of festivals celebrated in Vietnam. Elephant festival in Hanoi is the biggest festival in middle highland which is highly popular among the M'nong ethnic group.

Features of Elephant festival in Hanoi

- Elephant festival in Hanoi is celebrated during spring, in the third month of lunar calendar.

- Elephant festival in Hanoi is acknowledged as the biggest festival in the middle highland of Vietnam and this festival is significant for epitomizing the marital spirit of the M'nong ethnic group.

- M'nong ethnic group are noted all through the country for their valor and gallant skill in hunting dangerous wild elephants.

- Elephant festival in Hanoi is generally commemorated in the Don village or in forests in the vicinity of Sevepoi River (Dac Lak) and a distinct elephant race is the primary attraction of this festival.

- The track of the elephant race in Elephant festival in Hanoi is 1-2 km long and the width is large enough to accommodate ten elephants in a line and a few big trees adorn the otherwise even and plain race track.

- The elephant race starts with the signal of a wind instrument, horn and the mahout controls the participating elephants as they head towards the starting line.

- Once the race starts all the participating elephants starts racing as they gets immensely excited by drums, gongs and enthusiastic cheers from the spectators.

- As the race finishes off the winner elephants raise their trunks above their heads to wave to the viewers and strides purposefully wagging their ears softly, gaping through half-closed eyes to receive sugarcane from their audience.