As a form of performing arts, Xoan singing includes singing, dancing, drumming and clapper beating. It is closely attached to the Worship of the Hùng Kings, founders of the country. Phú Thọ people created Xoan singing and performed it at the village communal houses, temples and shrines worshipping the Hùng Kings in springs. “Xoan” means “spring”. Bearers and practitioners form four guilds, in which the male and female Trum play the most important role; they preserve the songs, select students, transmit the singing styles and repertoires and organize practices. They are also active in introducing and teaching Xoan singing at the four Xoan guilds, and in clubs and guilds. A full Xoan performance cycle includes 3 phases: Worship singing (Hát thờ) with songs praising the virtues of the Hùng Kings and the village guardian deities; Invocation for good health and fortune (Quả cách) with 14 repertoires praising nature, humankind, and the daily life of the community; Festive singing (hát Hội) with songs featuring the couple love. The special characteristic of Xoan is the modulation between singers and instrumentalists at the perfect fourth interval, and it has a simple structure with few ornamental notes. Xoan dance's movements have a sense of imitativeness, illustrating people's daily life activities. After singing at their communal houses from the 2nd - 5th day of the Lunar New Year, the Xoan guilds travel to other communities venerating Hùng Kings to take part in convivial cultural exchanges. Xoan practitioners are organized into music guilds called Phường. The Leader of each guild is called “Trùm”. In the past, only men could be “Trùm”, but nowadays women could also be leaders. The Leaders are in charge of transmission and organization of activities of the guilds. At present, each guild comprises of 30 - 100 members. Men are called “kép”, women are “đào”. As a community performing art, Xoan singing fosters cultural understanding, community cohesion and mutual respect. The Vietnamese Institute for Musicology has collected 31 Xoan songs, and thanks to the efforts of several Xoan artists four guilds have been established. 33 dedicated clubs also exist, and seminars are held to expand knowledge of Xoan.

Viet Nam 2017

The Việt people in Phú Thọ province have been practicing and trasmitting the worship of Hùng Kings whose father named Lạc Long Quân and mother named Âu Cơ for a very long time. The legend has become a strong belief of the country’s origin in the Việt people’s mentality for centuries. Dynasties of Great Việt attached great importance to the worship of Hùng Kings and offerred imperial conferments to villages worshiping Hùng Kings in temples and shrines. The worship of Hùng Kings has created many legends of wharves, rivers, fields, rice plants, land and other unique cultural creativity. Part of cultural creativity is reenacted in annual worship performed at communal houses, temples and shrines in villages. Communities make offerings of rice – based delicacies such as square cakes and glutinous cakes dedicated to Hùng Kings. Legend has it that, Lang Liêu who later became the seventh Hùng King made these two types of cakes by himself. They represent the heaven and the earth as well as the filial piety of the children for the parents. These two offerings are indispensable in the worship of Hùng Kings. Offerings dedicated to Hùng Kings at temples and shrines by villagers usually last for a few days: offerings by families first and then by the whole community. The tablets of Hùng Kings are proccessed throughout the villages and the rice fields, which implies that Hùng Kings may witness today’s lives of villagers and offer good weather, abundant harvests, good luck and good health to villagers, plants and animals. Offerings conducted by villagers at temples, communal houses, and shrines is supposed to be the most sacred moments when the respect and gratitude of communities dedicated to Hùng Kings are expressed.

Viet Nam 2012

Chợ Được Mother Goddess Palanquins Procession Festival is held on the 10th and 11th of January at Bà's mausoleum to commemorate Bà or Notre Dame - the person who opened Được market and supported the villagers to do business. “Cộ” is the carriage carrying Notre Dame, the community do communion by bullock cart. Before the organization day, the table-making teams prepared and made the most beautiful tables. Rituals include Praying for peace, commemorating the Notre Dame, procession of Cộ Bà and some folk performances. The festival only takes place at night, the offerings are all vegetarian dishes. The investiture is carried out in front of the procession, with bowls, medieval and ancient wards along with flags and parasols. On the 10th day, the procession includes drums, flags, parasols, precious bowls, and palanquins to process ordains, worship teams, and people at Bà's mausoleum. Here, the ritual of praying for peace and commemorating the merits of Notre Dame is performed solemnly and respectfully. The offerings are all vegetarian food, fruits, and cakes. The procession of Cộ communion takes place in the evening of the 10th day. The Bà's procession goes around the Được market area and some main roads in Bình Triều commune, Thăng Bình district. On the procession tables, actors of the teams Performing excerpts from Cộ plays such as Thánh Gióng chases away the Ân enemy, Hai Bà Trưng fights against Tô Định. As the procession passed, households on both sides of the road set up altars to pray for a peaceful and prosperous new year. On the 11th, people gathered on both sides of the Kiên Giang River to witness the boat racing between teams. Many games and folk performing arts are organized such as smashing clay pots, blind man's bluff or calling lô tô, card games, etc attracting the attention of many people.

Taking place during in the 2nd to 3rd lunar month, the festival derives from the cult of worshipping whale, also known as Ông Nam Hải (Mr. Nam Hải). Whale worship is a longstanding tradition of maritime communities along the Central coast. According legend and local belief, whales are savior of fishermen in the sea and bring about good fisheries. In Khanh Hoa Province, the festival begins with a Nghinh Ông (Whale Procession) Ceremony in the sea. To invite the whale spirit, the local fishermen make an offering ceremony on the sea. After that, 15 fishing boats, lining up in a V shape, make a parade on the sea, processing the whale’s spirit to his temple on shore. The festival subsequently continues with the royal decree procession ceremony. This is followed by a ritual inviting the spirit enter the temple. Lion and dragon dances, bá trạo singing and tuồng opera performances add a more joyful atmosphere into the festival.

The Nàng Hai Festival, also known as the Moon Praying Festival, begins in January and lasts until mid-March with the symbolic meaning of mothers and fairies on earth going to heaven to welcome Mother Moon and fairies down to earth. The Ngan ethnic group believes that on the Moon there is Mother Moon and 12 fairies, her daughters, who always take care of and protect the crops of all people. They choose a mother to be Mother Moon, and the girls play the role of fairies, including two unmarried girls who play the two moon sisters. The characters all wear traditional costumes according to regulations. They set up a "moon tent" as a place for Mother Moon and the fairies to sit during the ceremony. Before the ceremony, the people playing the role of Mother Moon (Mụ Cốc) and the girls stand in front of the altar so that Mr. Tào can perform the transformation ceremony for the souls of Mother Moon and the fairies to enter. From then on, they must abstain according to regulations. The ceremony is held on a large field with the rituals of "worshiping the local land princess" at the communal temple to ask permission for the villagers to organize the Moon-praying festival the following night. According to tradition, the ritual of carrying offerings from Thanh An communal house to the outdoor altar is a very important part to invite the gods to witness. The procession consists of 8 young people carrying the palanquin, including 4 men and 4 women, led by the shaman and the dancers, followed by trays of offerings including a pig's head, 4 pig's feet, chicken, duck, wine, cakes, and five-color dyed sticky rice. The shaman worships the local land goddess and the gods, the artists perform the rituals of dancing around the altar when the Moon-welcoming festival opens. After completing the ritual of reporting to Mother Moon and the 12 fairies, the village elder performs the rituals of praying for blessings, good luck, favorable weather, good crops; inviting Mother Moon and the fairies to bring crops and blessings to the villagers. The ceremony lasts for twelve nights. Each night, a Mother is invited. After that, they held a ceremony to send the moon ladies back to heaven. As for the festival, the shaman blew the trumpet and opened the festival. Villagers and commune residents participated in traditional sports activities such as: men's and women's volleyball; blindfolded duck catching; and pond fishing. In addition, the festival featured performances of folk songs, then singing, coi singing, folk games, and traditional cuisine of the Ngan ethnic group such as bamboo-tube rice, wild vegetable dishes, pork fish sauce, field carp fish sauce, salted plums, five-color sticky rice, pickled bamboo shoots, black plums dipped in sesame salt. This is a unique folk festival imbued with spiritual colors, with a positive and highly educational nature in the Ngan community. With its unique cultural values, the Ngan ethnic group's Moon Praying Festival was recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2018.

Kỳ Yên Peace Begging Festival at Bình Thủy Communal House, Can Tho city, is held twice a year: Thuong Dien (mid-April lunar calendar) and Ha Dien (mid-December lunar calendar). In which, Ky Yen Thuong Dien is the biggest festival of the year at the communal house, held on April 12-15 of the lunar calendar to pray for favorable weather and a good crop. On the 11th, rituals take place to prepare for the festival, including: Opening ceremony of the three-door gate, land worship ceremony, offering to the ancestors, and presenting the birth ceremony. The festival includes the following rituals: Than Nong worship ceremony, Thay Khăn sắc Thần Ceremony, Xay Chau - Dai Boi Ceremony, Chanh Te Ceremony, Son Quan worship ceremony... Early in the morning of the 12th, the Than Nong worship ceremony takes place at the temple to commemorate the God of Agriculture. The offerings are the three animals in the previous day's presentation ceremony, which have been slaughtered and roasted pig, wine, cakes, fruits, incense, and lamps... Next, the first ritual is the ceremony to invite the divine decree to travel by royal palanquin, after which the procession returns to the communal house for the enthronement ceremony. While the divine decree is traveling, families on both sides of the road set up trays of offerings to welcome the god to pray for health, peace, and prosperity. At noon, at 12 o'clock, is the ceremony to change the divine decree's scarf. The celebrant performs the ceremony to ask for a new scarf for the decree. After that, there is the Xay Chau - Dai Boi ceremony at Binh Thuy communal house, in the form of building a semi-literary and semi-martial art, harmoniously and balancedly combining the literary and martial arts of the Xay Chau. Before starting the Xay Chau ceremony, the celebrant performs the ceremony to invite Thanh Hoang to attend and listen to the opera. After that, the Chau drum beats with 360 drumsticks to begin the ceremony. The Xay Chau ceremony represents the meaning of opening the supreme ultimate, harmonizing the two principles, and praying for peace. The Dai Boi ceremony is performed by the actors and actresses in the opera troupe, materializing the Xay Chau ceremony with the image of the characters combined with costumes, dances and lyrics through the rituals: nhat thai (nhut tru), luong nghi, tam tai, tu tuong, ngu hanh in sequence with the number of performers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… On the morning of the 13th, there is a ceremony in the main hall. On the morning of the 14th, there is a Tuc yet ceremony to welcome the gods. Special offerings include a shaved pig, 1 cup of blood, 1 cup of hair. After the celebrant reads the Van Te, it is burned. On the morning of the 15th, there is a Chanh Te ceremony, the most important ritual in the temple worship ceremony. This is a ceremony to worship the Gods during the Thuong Dien festival, to thank the Gods, to worship the Ancestors, and to worship the Later Ancestors. The offerings to the Gods are a white pig, a cup of blood and other offerings. After the Chanh Te ceremony is the Ton Vuong ceremony performed by the opera actors of the Ban Te Tu Dinh. Next is the Son Quan worship ceremony at Son Quan temple, also known as Ong Ho temple. In addition to the rituals and performances of traditional opera, Binh Thuy Communal House Festival also organizes activities such as: sticky rice blowing contest, local cuisine performance, traditional opera singing, along with folk games such as: boat racing, tug of war, pot smashing (blindfolded), sack jumping... attracting many participants. The Kỳ Yên Peace Begging Festival at Bình Thủy Communal House with its humanistic rituals is an opportunity to unite the community, people gather to have fun and relax to start the new crop. The Kỳ Yên Peace Begging Festival at Bình Thủy Communal House is an important testament to the history of Vietnamese settlement in this land. The royal decree and the communal house worshiping Thanh Hoang show the recognition of the monarchy in terms of administration and the formation of villages and communes. With its typical value, the Kỳ Yên Peace Begging Festival at Bình Thủy Communal House was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2018.

Trịnh Xuyên communal house festival is held from the 9th to the 12th of the second lunar month every year, to commemorate the merits of General Vũ Đức Phong - the man who participated in the battle against Chiêm Thành during the Trần dynasty. Since last year, the village has sent a family to grow sticky rice on the village's public fields and raise a pig. Pigs are raised in cages and eat clean food. On the day of the festival, the village will use steamed sticky rice to pound round sticky cakes and slaughter pigs to pound sausages as offerings to the Saint. The opening ceremony is the Ngọc Lộ procession. The dragon lion dance team, flag teams, drum teams, incense plans, flag carrying teams, Bát Bửu teams, twin horses, float carrying teams with parasols and canopies, and representatives of the people and government make up the procession. For the ritual, Ngọc Lộ was led in a procession from the temple to the common house in Trịnh Xuyên. It is usual to walk through the palanquin in the hopes that the Saint may grant good health and fortune to the sick, old, and children. The offerings to the Saints include two parts: a vegetarian offering and a salt offering. The fasting ceremony includes fruits, cakes, and oats, which are offered by representatives of the hamlets wearing heads. The salty ceremony includes pork, sticky rice, rice cakes, wine, gold coins, incense, and betel and areca nuts. The custom of raising "Mr. Pig" in a cage, drinking clean water, and eating clean food. On the day of the festival, the villagers slaughter the pig, pound the meat and offer it to the Saint; Planting sticky rice in village fields to get sticky rice for sticky rice and pounding sticky rice cakes to worship the Saints. Many folk games are organized within the framework of the Festival such as: going on a bridge, human chess, blindfolded hitting pots, etc, and especially clay cannon competitions. Teams compete in 4 rooms, each 45 minutes.

The Thổ Hà Village Festival came into being in 1685 but later endured a long period of suspension. It was revived in 1992, taking place yearly from the 20th to 22nd of the first lunar month. The four hamlets in the village take turn to play main role in the ritual procession throughout the village, which is located on a tip of land surrounded by Cầu River, bordering Bắc Ninh and Bắc Giang provinces. The festival is organized in commemoration of Mr. Đào Trí Tiến, the village’s patriarch of pottery making. The procession starts from 10:00am, beginning from Hamlet 1 and ending at noon at the Communal House. The procession is formed by many delegations dressed ornate costumes, resembling mythical and symbolic figures such as Tam Đa (three abudances) and Tiên Đồng – Ngọc Nữ fairies, or performing troupes such sên tiền dancers, Flag Master, Sword Master, Gong Master, so on. Although distance for the procession is quite short, it took two hours for the procession of the Saint’s palanquin to reach the communal house due to many activities taking place in the same narrow village road. The last ritual taking place at the communal in honoring the saint is the most solemn and sacred ceremony in the festival.

Phu Day festival is organized by the community in Kim Thai, Nam Dinh province to honor Mother Lieu Hanh - one of the Four Immortals in Vietnamese folk beliefs. People believe that Phu Day is the place where the Mother of God was born. According to folk legend, the Holy Mother Lieu Hanh is Princess Lieu Hanh - who is honored as Mother Nghi Thien Ha. Mother Goddess Lieu Hanh is also considered the main deity of Vietnamese mother worship. There is a saying "August Father's death anniversary, Mother's death March" with the meaning of honoring saints like father and mother. The festival takes place from the 1st to the 10th day of the third lunar month. The Phu Day festival is known for its rites of passage to the fields and singing of chau van. The procession of Mother Goddess’s palanquin is one of the important rituals of the festival. There are also other activities such as dragon, unicorn, quartet dance, and a very special word-drawing festival.

Trường Yên Festival is also known as Tràng An Festival, Hoa Lư Festival, held on the 10th day of the third lunar month, to commemorate King Đinh Tiên Hoàng's efforts to quell the rebellion of 12 Warlords, establish the country, and efforts to defeat foreign invaders of King Lê Đại Hành. The ceremony includes rituals: temple opening ceremony (King Đinh temple, King Lê temple), water procession ceremony (in the middle of Hoàng Long river), incense offering ceremony (King Đinh temple, King Lê temple), fire procession (procession from Đinh Tiên Hoàng temple in Gia Phương commune, Gia Viễn district to King Đinh temple in Trường Yên commune), Mộc Dục ceremony (using water from the Hoàng Long River in the water procession ceremony), offering ceremony (three students - buffalo, goats, and pigs), palanquin processions (pavilions and temples worshiping generals of the Đinh and Lê dynasties carrying palanquins to worship the king), sacrificial ceremonies (nine song offerings and female mandarin offerings) and flower lantern festivals (monks and Buddhas). Prince releases lanterns on Sào Khê River, praying for peace and prosperity. The festival has interesting folk games such as reed chess exercises, boat racing, stick dancing, human chess, word formation, shuttlecock throwing, cheo singing competitions, wrestling, cursive script writing, gong performances, stilt walking, array fighting, crossbow shooting, etc. Among them, the performances "Reed Flag Exercise" and "Thái Bình Scrabble" are the most special, recreating the childhood and illustrious career of Emperor Đinh Tiên.

The Cờn Temple Festival is one of the major festivals in the region, held annually on the 19th, 20th, and 21st of January to commemorate the Four Holy Mothers - goddesses who protect and bless the people. This is one of the oldest festivals in Nghệ An with a history of more than 800 years. The highlight of the festival is the December boat racing festival for 5 consecutive days held right in front of the Cờn Temple. In addition, there is the custom of "Chạy Ói" reflecting the people's belief in the sacredness of the sacred log. The rituals in the “Chạy Ói” custom clearly show the characteristics of coastal residents from costumes, processions, decorations, palanquins, the custom of singing Vi, dancing Senh Tien, elephant racing, horse racing, palanquin rolling, sacrificing on the procession, throwing lucky money, robbing lucky money… The Cờn Temple Festival is associated with the worship of the Sea God - a god commonly worshiped in Nghệ An, which is a manifestation of the spiritual culture of the coastal region of Nghệ An. The festival has a strong riverine character, reflecting the professional thinking of coastal people.

The Worship of Mother Goddess Âu Cơ is the worship of Mother Âu Cơ- the Mother of the Bách Việt at the Mother Temple in Hiền Lương Commune (Hạ Hoà, Phú Thọ) originating from the legend that the origin of the Vietnamese people is Lạc Long Quân and Âu Cơ giving birth to a sac of one hundred eggs. From this belief, the people of Hạ Hoà built a temple to worship Mother Âu Cơ as a saint, the ancestor of the Vietnamese people and organize a festival. Every year, from the 7th to the 9th of January (the main festival is the 7th - death day of mother Âu Cơ), the people of Hiền Lương hold a festival to worship. During the festival, there are sacrifices, palanquin processions, and offerings. The sacrificial team has a male and female sacrificial team. The worship of Mother Âu Cơ was born in a mystical consciousness to create a strong, close-knit connection and solidarity among the Vietnamese people, because they share the same bloodline and the same main deity to worship, and moreover, that main deity is the Mother herself.