Giong Festival is a festival which is held annually in many places in Viet Nam to commemorate and praise for the deeds of Saint Giong. Every year, this festival takes place in many local places in the honor of one of the most well-known heroes in Viet Nam – Saint Giong. There are two most famous kinds of Giong festivals in Ha Noi: Soc Son Giong Festival and Phu Dong Giong Festival. Especially, Phu Dong Giong festival is considered to be the World Intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. This festival simulates the battles of Saint Giong as well as Van Lang people against An enemy. This festival is one of the most popular traditional festivals in Viet Nam. It preserves the value of VietNam history.

Nick: Hello Trí

Tú: Hello, how are you?

Nick: Fine, thanks. Long time no see!

Tú: Yeah, what are you doing?

Nick: I'm searching for a popular festival in Vietnam and I don't know what festival should I go to?

Tú: You should go to the rice-cooking festival.

Nick: Rice-cooking festival? That's sound interesting. Can you tell me more about that festival??

Tú: Sure. There are three competitions: water-fetching, fire-making, and rice-cooking.

Nick: Do they have to bring water for themselves???

Tú: No, there’s a river about one kilometer away. One person from each team has to run to the river. There are four bottles of water on the river bank and each runner must take a bottle and return to the starting position.

Nick: New information for me :) How about the fire-making contest???

Tú: The fire is made in the traditional way. Two team members try to make a fire by rubbing pieces of bamboo together. The winners are the first ones to make a fire.

Nick: And rice-cooking contest? What is it about?

Tú: Six people from each team participate in this event. They have to separate the rice from the husk and then cook the rice.

Nick: So what do they have to do if they want to win?

Tú: They have to make the rice delicious then the judges will try it, the most delicious rice is the winner. Then all the points are added and the grand prize is awarded.

Nick: Thanks for that information, I think I want to try to see that festival first.