A photo in the grand prize winning ‘Le Hoi Trau Rom Bo Ra’ photo collection

The collection was acknowledged by the jury for its aesthetic quality, composition and discovery.

The photo set explores a unique harvest festival celebrated annually on the fourth and the fifth days of the first lunar month by Bich Dai villagers in Dai Dong commune, Vinh Tuong district, Vinh Phuc province.

To prepare for the festival, the villagers use straw threads which were cut and dried from the previous crops to make buffaloes and oxen. The festival aims to encourage all villagers to work harder while expressing their hope for favourable weather conditions and healthy crops.

Earlier, the photo set was also named the grand prize winner in the fifth qualification round of the Viet Nam Heritage Photography Awards.

The awards have been held annually since 2013 by the Viet Nam Heritage Magazine. This year’s event included five qualification rounds to choose the best entries to enter the final round.

Entrants competed in two categories - photo sets and single photos. Each photo collection comprises between 10 and 15 photos featuring craft villages, heritage sites, people, festivals, customs and the cultural life of Vietnamese people, while the single photo category focuses on capturing landscapes and daily life in Viet Nam.

No grand prize was presented in this year’s single photo category.

The top entries in the two categories from the qualification rounds will be displayed at an exhibition scheduled for December 15-21 at the Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum, No. 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Ba Dinh district in Ha Noi. The awards winners will be named on the occasion.