Rice cooking competitions (thi thoi com)
During Tet, a number of villages in northern and central Viet Nam hold cooking contests that may sound simple, but follow strict and complex rules: Cooking in the wind and…
Wedding Ceremony
Getting married is an important event in a Vietnamese’s life. The procedure of the ancient wedding ceremony was very complicated. Current wedding ceremony procedures include the following steps: the search…
Customs of Chewing Betel and Areca Nuts and smoking thuoc lao
According to legends, chewing quid of betel and areca has been a custom since the Hung Vuong period and is connected to the antique legend of betel and areca. A…
Villages – Guilds
The Vietnamese culture has always evolved on the basis of the wet rice civilization. Thus, the lifestyle of the Vietnamese population is closely related to its village and native lands.…
Worship of Ancestor Custom
A very popular belief among Vietnamese is the custom of the ancestor cult. In every household, an ancestor altar is installed in the most solemn location. Vietnamese believe that the…
Viet Nam Handicrafts
Viet Nam is a country rich in handicraft products, thanks to the hard-working, dexterous, and creative qualities of the Vietnamese people. For a very long time, handicraft products have been…
Folk Dance
Approximately 2,500 years ago, pictures of dancers were engraved on the Dong Son drums. These engravings reveal two dance styles, one with accessories and one without accessories. The main dance…
Festival rituals
Festivals require many compulsory rituals, which are carried out in a strict order from the preparation to the ending of a festival. In general, a festival has the following rituals:…
Royal dance
Royal dance in Viet Nam had a development process during many dynasties, from Dinh Dynasty in the 10th century to the Nguyen Dynasty in the early 20th century. It originated…
Overview of traditional festivals
Festive activities are living museums in which typical cultural values of the nation have been preserved for centuries. Formation and meaning of traditional festivals Traditional festivals constitute a form of…