Goat Festival - A Unique Cultural Feature of Spring by the GNI in Tuyen Quang Province
On March 16th, at Thien Ke commune of Son Duong district (Tuyen Quang province), the Good Neighbors International (GNI) cooperated with the People's Committee of the district to organize the second "Healthy Goats - Beautiful Goats" Contest in 2024.
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As spring arrived with warm sunshine blessing the villages, tourists from all places excitedly anticipated the "wrestling match" of the goats hosted by the GNI and Son Duong district, a unique cultural feature of spring in the locality.
In that spirit, the People's Committee of Son Duong district cooperated with the GNI and gained strong support from the local community for the "Healthy Goats - Beautiful Goats" Contest. This is an initiative helping goat breeding households exchange experiences in rearing as well as promoting the Son Duong goat brand to the community. In addition, the contest also gave us chances to discover the distinctive beauty of Son Duong-Tuyen Quang's culture.
16 teams were participating representing goat breeding households across 13 district communes. Each team selected 1 male goat to participate in the goat wrestling contest and 1 female goat for the beautiful goat contest. The teams went through 3 competition rounds: goat contest communication (online), beautiful goat, and healthy goat.
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| Goat Festival - A Unique Cultural Feature of Spring in Tuyen Quang Province hosted by the GNI. |
Tuan, a goat owner attending the contest said that to win, the goats must rely not only on health but also on techniques trained by owners. He shared that he had to take good care of his "fighters" for a long time in preparation.
A special feature of goat wrestling is the intense yet non-lethal fighting, so no goat was seriously injured but looked stronger and braver. Like other games in festivals, wrestling brings entertainment and meaningful spirituality. Healthy winning goats would bring good luck to their owners.
At the end of the competition, the goats were regrouped and continued to be reared for reproduction instead of slaughter like bullfighting contests elsewhere. The festival brought a lively, fun and beneficial playing field for locals.
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| The organizing committee awards prizes for the goat competition. |
The Organizing Committee awarded prizes to the first-placed teams in the beautiful goat and other contests. This contest allowed people to exchange rearing experiences, and develop goat breeding towards commodities to meet market demand. It aimed to stimulate goat breeding potential, promote the Son Duong goat brand to regional and international friends, and raise awareness of breed conservation and development, especially the Son Duong goat of Tuyen Quang.
Some other photos of the event:
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| The goats are ready to the contest. |
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