A distinctive way to experience An Châu is through its traditional boat racing festival: the winning team is not decided solely by which team reaches the finish line first. The value of the bamboo lot drawn by the team at the finish also counts. The festival also includes local religious sites and singing competitions among the Tày, Nùng, and Dao communities. The river, religious traditions, and an unusual way of determining the winner give the festival tradition several distinct facets.
Religious Sites and Traditions
Đình–Chùa Chẽ is dedicated to the village guardian deity and the generals Cao Sơn and Quý Minh. According to tradition, the two were generals in the time of the Hùng kings. The complex was recognized as a provincial historical and cultural monument in 2003. It is also a place of religious worship for people from the district and beyond. Here, religious dedication, traditional history, and monument status come together in one named place.
According to local tradition, Miếu Đức Ông commemorates a general of Lê Lợi who led river combat units and trained the population to use dugout canoes. At the festival, the training of river combat units is attributed to General Vi Đức Thăng. These are distinct traditional accounts. The festival program also has a clear structure: after the religious part at Miếu Đức Ông, the program continues at Nghè Chải, where the boat race begins.
The An Châu boat racing festival has also been included in the national list of intangible cultural heritage. Both its religious associations and its festival tradition are important to the cultural character of the place. Visitors choosing An Châu for its history and traditional customs will find distinct points of connection at Đình–Chùa Chẽ and Miếu Đức Ông.
Festival Dates and the Riverside Setting
The traditional boat racing festival takes place every year on the 8th, 9th, and 10th days of the fourth lunar month. It was revived in 2000 and has been held annually ever since. When planning your dates, take the lunar calendar date for your intended year of travel into account. The festival takes place in An Châu town, in Sơn Động District. Its main sites are Đình–Chùa Chẽ, Nghè Chải, and a section of the Lục Nam River.
The Lục Nam flows through An Châu and is also known as the An Châu River. The river section used for the festival is relatively wide and 1 to 2.5 meters deep; the racecourse is about 300 to 400 meters long. These figures describe different scales: the length of the racecourse and the characteristics of the river section. This helps put the competition venue into context without equating the racecourse with the entire river.
Boat Racing and Other Competitions
The race uses dugout canoes that can carry seven people. The winner is determined not only by who reaches the finish fastest, but also by the value of the bamboo lot drawn by the team at the finish. This means the winner is decided differently than in a straightforward speed contest. The annual festival also features singing competitions among the Tày, Nùng, and Dao communities. The program thus combines the river race with other named competitions.
The race is subject to a seasonal condition: it can only take place once rain at the end of spring and beginning of summer has sufficiently filled the river. Festival dates based on the lunar calendar and water conditions therefore address different aspects of trip planning. If the race is the main reason for your visit, check whether it will actually take place before traveling.
Getting There and Finding Hotels
An Châu is a junction and transfer point for two important interregional road routes. This provides a general point of reference for getting there; check the specific route before setting off.
Discover more destinations: Bắc Giang City
Go to the main travel overview: Bac Giang.
