Naqqāli is an Iranian traditional theatre form, having originated in ancient Iran. This dramatic performance concerns telling of a story, history or non-history based, in a variety of genres. It is done either in verse or prose and accompanied by gestures and movements appropriate to the event related. Iran enjoys a long tradition of Naqqāli. This tradition was called “Gowsān” during Parthians (3rd BC-3rd AD). “Gowsān”s (the reciters) acted as entertainers to both kings and ordinary people. Under the Sassanids (3rd-7th AD), Naqqāli was highly regarded at court, where it used to be called “Xonyāgari”. Following the collapse of the Sassanid, these reciters emmigrated to remote areas to keep the tradition alive. In ancient times, they used to recite narrative poems, play musical instruments, sing, and act. Naqqāli is the oldest form of dramatic performance in Iran. Historically, it has adopted itself with socio-political circumstances. Before the Sassanid(651 AD), Naqqāls were poets and musicians simultaneously. They recited stories along with playing instruments. Bārbad was the most renown Naqqāl of the Sassanid. During Ghaznavids(10th-12th AD), the Court banned musical Naqqāli. But the tradition survived in remote areas. Two important events occurred during the Safavid period (16th-18th AD): establishment of coffee-houses and applying “Parde”. Parde introduced a new style in Naqqāli, and coffee-houses became exclusive venues for Naqqāls for, at least, 300 years. Up to several decades ago, great coffee-houses hired Naqqāls. Unfortunately, the strong influence of western culture and break down of the old traditions caused a decline in popularity of coffee-houses; consequently, Naqqāl's lost their traditional audiences During the Islamic period, such reciters were known under various names; such names had their origin in the types of the repertory of the tales they recited. One example is, so called, “Shāhnāme-Xān”s, who were specialized in reciting tales from Shāhnāme, the great Persian epic by Ferdowsi. This naming style can still be traced. In addition to Persian literature, Naqqāls needed to be acquainted with expressions referring to the local culture, or the Iranian traditional/folk music. Thus, they functioned as both entertainers, and bearers of Persian literature and culture, while encouraging national cohesion. Nowadays, the language of recited narrations is not limited to Persian; these tales are allowed to be narrated in regional dialects or languages. Up to several years ago they were the most important guardians of folk-tales, ethnic- epics and Iranian folk music. Naqqāli requires considerable talent; no one can arrive at eminence in this line except men of cultivated taste and retentive memory. They must not only be acquainted with the best ancient and modern stories, but be able to change them in relation to new incidents, either heard or invented. They must also recollect the finest texts of poetry, which they may quote from. The audience are normally acquainted with the tale, so the Naqqāl requires the charm in his performance, an attractive voice quality, as well as skill in acting to captivate them. The Naqqāl is alone in performing a rich range of roles, such as those of kings, queens, warriors, princesses, beggars, etc, convincingly. He is even a master in producing sound effects, including horse galloping, fencing ,etc. Master Naqqāls, even, are well equipped with a knowledge of Iranian sports, while they recite skills in wrestling and fencing, among others. There are two groups of practitioners, the Professional and the Seasonal. They may perform in coffee-houses, tents of nomads, houses, and historical places like ancient caravanserais. The Professionals, who are few in number now, earn their living from Naqqāli; seasonals have other occupations, too. Nowadays, professional Naqqāls are mostly invited for official ceremonies sponsored by municipalities or governmental institutes. Seasonal Naqqāls mostly perform in regional ceremonies like wedding parties, or even mourning ceremonies. However, both groups have been invited for Iranian Ritual-Traditional Theatre Festivals since the very beginning of its establishment. Naqqāls, especially Morsheds (master Naqqāls), wear costumes reminiscent of Dervishes cloths. They may, even, use ancient helmets, or armoured jackets in the middle of the performance, to create a sense of reality for the battle scenes. Their multifunctional canes may represent a wide range of motifs, including a beautiful beloved, a horse, a sword, etc. “Parde”, used by some Naqqāls, is a painted curtain in the Coffee-House-Style. Having preserved all the logical, religious and traditional styles, it has flourished as a sign of respect for popular beliefs. The painters have been messengers of light and impossible dreams. Due to the fact that this unique theatrical performance always presents one of the deepest and genuine layers of the national Iranian culture, its protection will definitely serve to safeguard the national and historical roots of it. Besides, it can be a source of inspiration for literary figures and artists all around the world. Every form of art is a unique language faciliating peaceful communication among different cultures. In this regard, Naqqāli should be considered as an international heirtage in urgent need for safeguarding.

Iran 2011

Thuong Liet village festival, also known as Gieng festival, is held from the 10th to the 12th of January (lunar calendar), at the communal house - pagoda - mausoleum complex of the village, to commemorate the merits of Princess Tran Thi Quy Minh. On the morning of the 10th, Thuong Liet village festival begins with the ceremony of carrying Buddha's offerings from Thien Duc Tu pagoda, going around the village, and finally returning to the communal house. In the afternoon, the female worshiping delegation performs the incense offering and proclamation ceremony. The most special is the procession of the teacher, the female worker and the flag and fan spear dance. The teacher and the female worker are selected according to traditional regulations. On the morning of the 11th and 12th, the villagers organize the procession of the female worker of the two villages of Dong Thuong Liet and Tay Thuong Liet. Previously, Thuong Liet organized the procession of the teacher, but in recent years, the teacher has not organized the procession, only the female worker. The teacher has the responsibility of welcoming the ceremony, the ceremony, the female worker used to teach the children to dance, but now she does not have to teach the dance, she only supervises the children's dance. According to the village rules, a person can be a teacher many times, but a worker can only be a worker once in a lifetime. The master of ceremonies performs the Saint ceremony and starts the Spear-flag-and-fan dance. During these 2 days, there is also a ceremony to bring offerings from the villages and hamlets in the commune to the Saint. At the same time, the Spear-flag-and-fan dance team is selected - "Miss Len". The Spear-flag-and-fan dance is an ancient dance, associated with traditional rituals that appeared in Giang village since the Tran Dynasty. During the ceremony, the two ladies wear ceremonial costumes, sit in hammocks, and command and supervise the dance groups on the East and West sides of the communal house. This is a form of collective folk dance combined with a couple dance. The content describes the princess's mood before going far away to say goodbye to her father. The dance team consists of 40 - 50 people. Each of the Miss Len (dancers) holds a small flag and a paper fan to fold during the dance. In some dance classes, there is also a rông reader and a troupe leader. There are about 36 different dance levels. The dance movements focus on depicting rural life. When dancing, the flag and fan hands are sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other, changing the flag hand to the fan hand, often called "trao co, trao fan", the local pronunciation is "giao". Besides the rituals, procession and dancing with flags, spears and fans, the festival also has folk games and entertainment such as cockfighting, chess, tug of war, wrestling... Thuong Liet village festival has profound historical value, associated with the story of Mrs. Tran Qui Minh, who reclaimed the land, established the hamlet to create today's Giang village. With its typical value, Thuong Liet village festival was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2018.

Phuong Do Communal House used to belong to Phuong Do village, La Dinh commune, Phu Binh district, Thai Nguyen province, now belongs to Xuan Phuong commune, Phu Binh district. Phuong Do Communal House Festival is a festival associated with the worship of the talented general - Duc Thanh Duong Tu Minh - a great general in the Ly dynasty (11th - 12th century), who had the merit of repelling the Song invaders, firmly protecting the northern border of Dai Viet. Phuong Do people worship him as the village's tutelary god at the communal house. Every year, Phuong Do Communal House holds many festivals, notably in January, April, and October (Lunar calendar). The biggest festival of the year is held from October 9 to 11, with a palanquin procession to thank the village's tutelary god for blessing the people with a bountiful harvest and to pray for favorable weather, good crops, and peace for every family. The offerings to the tutelary god are local products, quite rich and diverse. The palanquin procession is organized elaborately. The village carries the Saint from the communal house to the communal house, with 2 palanquins. Each palanquin has 4 people carrying it, called "palanquin legs", one palanquin goes up to the Upper Communal House, one palanquin goes down to the Lower Communal House. The two palanquins go one way and the other way, forming a closed circle, the palanquins meet, the two palanquins greet each other by turning the palanquin once, then lowering it onto the palanquin legs, the mandarins burn incense and ask to welcome the Saint back to the communal house. After the ceremony, the palanquin is carried back to the communal house, when it reaches the communal house gate, the village palanquin comes out to welcome it, the village palanquin goes first, the two Saint palanquins go behind. After the palanquins are placed in place, the Great Sacrifice ceremony takes place solemnly in the communal house yard. The ritual is performed by the head of the incense burner and the elders, virtuous and prestigious people elected by the villagers, called the Chief Priest and the mandarins. The Chief Priest is the one with the main responsibility for the Saint's sacrifice. The sacrificial costumes are according to regulations, the Chief Priest wears a red tunic, the mandarins wear blue tunic, wear shoes, and wear a hat with a strip. When entering the ceremony, spread out 4 mats in a vertical row in front of the altar: The first mat is called the "nghinh thần" mat, to perform the ceremony of welcoming the gods, reading the wishes, the master of ceremonies stands here to make offerings. The second mat is called the "thu tộ" mat, where the master of ceremonies goes up to enjoy the blessings bestowed by the gods. The third mat is called the "phuc vị" mat, or the "chủ tế" mat. The fourth mat is called the "Bồi tế" mat. The ceremony of the tutelary god at Phuong Do communal house bears the shadow of a feudal court activity with solemn and standardized court rituals. After three drum beats, gongs, and jubilant music, the ceremony takes place with all the rituals of the initial offering, the secondary offering, the final offering, and the final offering. Festival activities with folk games: lion dance, offering, wrestling, cockfighting, quan ho singing, chess playing... create a joyful and exciting atmosphere. As a unique, large-scale festival in the region that attracts a large number of participants, the festival still preserves sacred elements and traditional rituals with typical cultural features of the Northern midland region. The festival expresses the people's aspirations for a better life, and educates about the tradition of patriotism and the morality of remembering one's roots when drinking water. In 2018, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism decided to include Phuong Do Communal House Festival in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage, the type of Traditional Festival.

At its inception, this festival takes place on the 5th of first lunar month in commemoration of Hoàng Hoa Thám, also known as Đề Thám (Commander Thám), the farmer leader in the Yên Thế uprising against the French colonists. Since 1984, the festival has taken place in the third week of March. Main ceremonies of the festival include the palanquin procession ritual by Phồn Xương and Cầu Gỗ villages. An important ritual is the requiem of lost insurgent soldiers with traditional offerings. There are also strict rules on costumes for those who participate in the rituals. A flag salute ceremonies is re-enacted as it was conducted by the insurgent army in the past. Today, in order to make the festival more joyful, villagers incorporate a horse procession ritual and an exchange performance “Young men from Cầu Vồng and Yên Thế villages meet with young ladies from Nội Duệ and Cầu Lim”. Entertainment activities of the festival include such folk performances as martial art performance, gun shooting and archery contests, wrestling and quiz game about the Yên Thế Uprising.

Tien Cong Temple (also known as Thap Cuu Tien Cong Temple) is located in Cam Thanh Village, Cam La Commune, about 5km from the center of Quang Yen Town, worshiping 17 "Thap That Tien Cong". According to the stele and genealogy, from about 1434 to 1500, there were 17 Tien Cong from Kim Hoa Ward (now Kim Lien Ward), Tho Xuong District, Hoai Duc Prefecture, Thang Long Citadel (Hanoi) and their families following the Red River to the Bach Dang River mouth to find a way to make a living, reclaim land, establish villages and hamlets. These are the people who made the first contributions to the cause of building dykes to reclaim land from the sea and rivers to establish the Ha Nam island area, including Cam La Commune. The Tien Cong Festival (also known as the "Procession" ceremony festival) is a unique festival and is held on a large scale in Quang Yen town. The festival takes place from the 5th to the 7th day of the first lunar month to commemorate the Tien Cong who had the merit of reclaiming and establishing the islands of Ha Nam and Quang Yen. The Tien Cong Festival in the Ha Nam island region (Quang Yen town) has been preserved and promoted by the people for more than 300 years. The festival space takes place in Phong Coc, Phong Hai, Yen Hai wards and Cam La commune. The festival center is at the Tien Cong temple relic (Cam La commune) and at the Tien Cong family temples. From the ancestral shrines, each family and clan brings offerings, welcoming the elderly (80, 90, 100 years old or older) to the Tien Cong temple to worship their ancestors. Representatives of the clans offer offerings and make offerings on the Tien Cong stele. The opening of the Tien Cong Festival is the “Ra cỗ họ” ceremony, also known as the “Lễ tế Tổ” ceremony. The “Ancestor” ceremony is held by the Tien Cong clans on the 4th day of the first lunar month every year. This is the biggest ceremony in the ancestral temples of the year. The “Ra cỗ họ” ceremony is a ceremony to pray for the ancestors and ancestors to bless their grandchildren and children with a prosperous new year; it is a ceremony to send off the ancestors and ancestors in the ancestral temple according to the local people’s fine customs and is also a festival of the clan. After the ancestral ceremony, many cultural activities and folk games are organized such as: wrestling, swinging, cockfighting, human chess, tom diem, dum singing, tug of war, volleyball, building dikes... In particular, the ceremony of the elders building dikes and wrestling opens the festival, creating a joyful and exciting atmosphere. On the 5th day of the first lunar month, the children and grandchildren in the family whose parents have reached the age of longevity prepare to decorate the family yard according to the traditional longevity celebration ceremony. On the 6th of January, families of the same clan and village organize a procession to carry the ancestors in a peach hammock to the Tien Cong temple to worship their ancestors, called the "Rước Thọ" or "Rước Người" ceremony, along with the preparation of offerings and ceremonial objects, costumes, ceremonial music team, and peach hammock palanquins for the procession, which are prepared months before the festival takes place. The most joyful and splendid Tien Cong festival is on the main festival day (the 7th of January) with the most unique "Rước Người" ceremony in the whole country, expressing admiration and honor for the ancestors, imbued with the cultural identity of the residents of the Bach Dang estuary. At noon on the main festival day, the sacrificial group representing the Four Communes organizes the "Tế giã" ceremony, ending the festival. Tien Cong Festival is a traditional cultural beauty that evokes the morality of “When drinking water, remember its source”, “Respect the elderly and live long” and promotes the solidarity of clans and villages, and has become an intangible cultural heritage that has a wide influence on the community and tourists. In 2017, Tien Cong Festival was honored as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. The annual organization of Tien Cong Festival has become a unique tourism product of Quang Yen town, Quang Ninh province.

One of the uniqueness of Mongolian wrestling is wrestling costumes which consist of a hat, zodog (jacket), shuudag (briefs), boots, stockings and boots’ bindings. Zodog (jacket) and shuudag (brief) are a traditional costume of Mongolian wrestlers. The costimes made of silk, textiles and stitched with pliable and strong threads afford a wrestler the ability to hold his opponent during the wrestling bout. Zodog and shuudag adapt themselves to the shape of wrestler’s brawny body. This tight costume greatly affords a wrestler’s comfort to move as well. Only a few specialized masters craft the zodog and shuudag by their hands.