Events & Festivals

Lim Festival

When:Feb 2010 (annual)

Where:Lim Pagoda

As Spring approaches, duets of Quan Ho folk songs can be heard all over Bac Ninh. Taking turns to sing, couples improvise words, each responding to the other, flirting and generally establishing the ground for more serious courtship.

The Lim Festival is the most important place for this charming local custom, as the surrounding villages come here for the competition of Quan Ho teams.

Long before the festival, groups of male singers find groups of female singers and establish a 'brother-sister' relationship with a simple, but very formal, ceremony. The agreement goes beyond training together, as far as providing assistance in daily life but not usually to inter-marriage. The teams sing in the pagoda, wearing traditionally colourful silk costumes.

While individuals sing spontaneously outdoors on the hill, the teams must adhere to rituals such as a ceremony to honour Buddha. The host team starts singing as soon as the guests walk through the door. In fact it seems that all communication is through song and this is part of the hospitality. After lunch though it is the visitors' turn to entertain. They take a tea break at midnight! Then the whole thing carries on until dawn. Ability will be judged on analogy, questions and answers to various quizzes. As the visitors leave, the hosts (you guessed it) sing their farewells.

Traditional games also feature at Lim Festival, but the main attraction is definitely the Quan Ho singers, both inside and outside the pagoda. The timing of the festival (the 13th day of the first lunar month) honours Lim village's Spirit Protector, who became enlightened on this day.

TrulyAsia offers many ways to save even more with our special deals & promotions on many popular hotels.