Long Chu Festival in Hoi An

Like many festivals in the small town of Hoi An in Vietnam, the Long Chu Festival in Hoi An is steeped as much in cultural concerns as it in religion. The Long Chu Festival in Hoi An follows the traditional lunar calendar of Vietnam, and is held on the 15th day of lunar July. The name of the festival, “Long Chu”, translates as ‘Royal Barge’. It is a festival that concentrates on the warding off of ghosts and evil from the respective villages.
Celebrated in a month of flux, when the new season is coming on and the old is leaving and the entire clime is uncertain, the Long Chu Festival in Hoi An is a religious firewall to keep away epidemics from afflicting the members of the village. It is held in the summer months when plagues and other types of epidemics are most likely to break out in the fishing villages. The Long Chu Festival in Hoi An, in this respect can almost be termed as a precaution with a religious flavor against all these ailments. Keeping in mind this context, the rituals are preformed mostly by Priest Doctors or ‘Shamans’. These rituals of the Long Chu Festival in Hoi An involve burning of incense and putting of amulets and talismans in the ‘ghost’s’ abode to the accompaniment of an entire community chanting prayer songs. An important part of the rituals is the casting of magic spells on the ‘ghosts’ that carry these ailments. These ghosts are then cast into the river to be discarded into the sea.

After these rituals are over, the parades and processions begin. Full of song, drama and dance, the community finally get together to share a common meal. The attractions of the after ritual festivities of the Long Chu Festival in Hoi An are many. The ‘Procession of Long Chu’ is the highlight. In this procession, the ‘King Boat’ which is made in the form of a dragon is carried from the house of the people to the sea and then set afloat to be carried away by the waves. Also, the games hosted during this time are a major draw for visitors.