Tuesday, 06/10/2026

Tuesday, 06/10/2026

Fire-making and rice-cooking contest enlivens Lunar New Year festival

Tuesday, 13:00, 24/02/2026

VOV.VN - The traditional “running- fire-making -rice-cooking” contest is held annually on the eighth day of the first lunar month at Thi Cam communal house in Xuan Phuong ward, Hanoi. The event recreates the spirit of military training in ancient times while preserving a longstanding cultural tradition.

Many local residents gather at the courtyard of Thi Cam communal house on February 24, the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, to take part in the traditional running, fire-making and rice-cooking contest.

Four teams take part in the contest, competing in water-fetching, fire-making and traditional rice-cooking events held in remembrance of General Phan Tay Nhac.

According to local tradition, the running, fire-making and rice-cooking contest traces its origins to General Phan Tay Nhac, who once came to Thi Cam village to organize a competition to select those responsible for cooking for soldiers before they went into battle.

Amid the resounding drumbeats and enthusiastic cheers from villagers and visitors, four teams in distinct uniforms, each comprising 10 men and women, represent the village’s four traditional hamlets.

To obtain fire for cooking, the teams prepare tinder made from straw and other easily combustible materials for the fire-making challenge. In the photo: teams prepare tinder for the fire-making round.

This is the most intense stage of the contest, as producing fire requires techniques that have long fallen out of common use in everyday life.

At the same time, another group pounds the rice, winnows away the husk and bran, and washes the grains in preparation for the rice-cooking stage.

At the same time, a group of four youths, each representing one team, take part in a water-fetching race to supply water for cooking. Village elders say that in the past, water for the contest was drawn from the Nhue River.

The rice is carefully winnowed to remove husk and bran before cooking.

The husk is carefully picked out to ensure the cooked rice is white, fragrant and tender.

The rice is thoroughly washed and rinsed before cooking.

The most skillful women on each team are selected to cook the rice.

The entire running, fire-making and rice-cooking contest lasts one hour, after which village elders serve as judges.

Judging is based on several criteria. In the water-fetching round, participants must run a distance of about one kilometre to bring water back to the communal house, with the first team to return winning the round. The same applies to the fire-making stage, where the team that produces fire first is declared the winner.

The most crucial and decisive stage is the rice-cooking round. The team that completes the task on time and produces rice that is tender, fragrant and white wins the contest.

The contest recreates the intelligence and skill once applied in ancient military training to defend the nation against foreign invaders. It is a cultural tradition that continues to be preserved, helping educate younger generations about national heritage while expressing hopes for good fortune in the new year.

Before judging, the panel must first locate the pots of cooked rice buried in the piles of ash and embers.

Once the pots of cooked rice are found, village elders carry it into the inner hall of the communal house and serve a bowl as an offering to the deities, after which the judges taste the rice and score the teams.

Elderly members of the judging panel carefully scoop rice from the four teams’ pots and place it on the ceremonial altar.

The Thi Cam rice-cooking festival is not only a distinctive cultural event but also a symbol of solidarity and the ingenuity and skillfulness of the Vietnamese people across generations.

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