Whale Festival in Hanoi

Festivals in any nation reflect the tradition and cultural heritage. According to common notion, festivals are spontaneously associated with celebration and festive spirits but a deeper probe into the matter will reveal that festivals have deeper significance than its apparent outer manifestation. Festivals form an intrinsic aspect of the social perspective of a country and embody the religious beliefs and faiths of the people. Festivals have always been a refreshing welcome in any city in any nation in any time period as people always embraces festivity with open arms and a gorgeous smile. Festivals not only increases social interaction among various cross section of the society but also provides a soothing relief from the monotony and drudgery of day to day life and inspires us to look past our sorrows and disappointments in life and revitalize our spirit to move ahead in life.

Vietnam is nation of an assimilation of diverse culture and tradition and thus a wide range of various festivals are celebrated in different parts of Vietnam as well as in its capital, Hanoi. The Whale Festival in Hanoi is a popular festival which is being celebrated in Vietnam for centuries.

Features of Whale Festival in Hanoi

- For centuries, the Whale Festival in Hanoi is considered as the biggest water festival among the fisherman of the Quang Nam, Danang province.

- In Quang Nam, Danang province, the Whale Festival is celebrated with the belief that paying respect to the Whale God will ensure safety and prosperity of the entire village.

- Whale Festival in Hanoi last for only two days and it is commemorated in the middle of the 3rd lunar month.

- In Whale Festival in Hanoi, whale is worshipped and an elaborate ceremony takes place to honor the whale god.

- An important aspect of this popular water festival is decorating the whale temple and all the houses and boats in the village

- The elderly people of the village bears the responsibility of offering peace in the first evening at the whale temple.

- In Whale Festival in Hanoi, offerings excluding the sea food are given while the oration is recited.

- To express their sincerity toward the Whale God, a procession of boats is set on the sea at dawn, the following day of the festival and the official ceremony of the Whale Festival is conducted as school children offer incense which is accompanied with a classical opera played by the orchestra.

- The Whale Festival in Hanoi is so significant to the fishermen that all the fishing boats and villagers returns to take part in the festival irrespective of wherever they might have been.