The Doan Ngo Festival (the traditional Double-Fifth Festival), is held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, this year falling on a Monday; so many people are going to the market early. Popular items on this day of "killing pests and worms” are always fermented glutinous rice, sticky rice, fruits, Tro cake (Rice cake with herbal ash), and lotus seeds.
On the morning of June 14 – the Doan Ngo Festival (the fifth day of the fifth lunar month), from early on, Hanoi people are busy buying fermented glutinous rice, fruit, and cake before offering incense.
According to the old tradition, Vietnamese people also call Doan Ngo Festival the “killing pests and worms” festival, the day to catch insects and eliminate pests which are harmful to crops.
People often eat fermented glutinous rice with the belief it helps kill worms and improves their health.
During the early morning at the Gia Ngu market in Hoan Kiem district, people rush to the market to buy fermented glutinous rice, fruit, and cake before offering incense.
This year, many business households prepared beautifully decorated offerings.
"In order to prepare the ingredients for making the fermented glutinous rice, we had to find the best ingredients to make the dish for the Doan Ngo Festival. This year, due to the Covid-19 epidemic, my family mainly sold by order and delivered to the customers" says Van - the owner of a shop on Gia Ngu Street.
The price of items for the Doan Ngo Festival has increased compared to previous years. On average, a small package of fermented glutinous rice costs VND 10,000 to VND 50,000 depending on the weight.
A full tray of glutinous rice wine, fruit, Tro cake, is priced from VND200,000 to VND250,000 depending on the customer's request.
“Every year, people go to buy things and then offer incense, but this year due to the epidemic, many people have avoid contacted with otherse, so they asked our shop to make trays like this for them, before they offer incense. The ingredients are chosen by the customer and we just decorate and make it eye-catching”, added shop owner Van.
As it occurs near the summer solstice, the Doan Ngo Festival marks the inception of the hottest spell of the whole year, often coupled with epidemics and plagues. Therefore, in the old days, Vietnamese people still had many customs such as eating sour fruit, glutinous rice wine and Tro cake, from the moment they woke up in order to eradicate diseases.
People go to the market early to prepare for the Doan Ngo Festival.
Giang Nam