Village ponds – the perfect stage of Vietnamese water puppetry

Vietnamese people have mainly survived on farming from centuries, some family gathers in a community that forms a village. Each village could be considered as a social cell with own rules and relationship within the community and local authority.

Each family has a private house with big garden and ponds. The pond provides water for daily use of farming. In the ponds, people floated water-fern which was used as food for animals; we also raise fish and some floating flower.

In the village, there are some public ponds or lakes in front of communal house and pagoda where the water puppetry was performed. The audiences stand on the bank and watch the characters moving in the water stage. The puppeteers would hide behind the stage cover and direct the puppetry performance. Everything happens on the water surface of the ponds as amazing as it can be.

Water puppet show in Yen Duc village was performed as its origin of arts, in the village ponds and local people to tell their own stories of fishing, making rice, raising ducks…It is not the special designed stage with well-trained actors, well-staged performing, attending this show in Yen Duc village, you are likely to understand the true significance of performing art in folk life.

Indochina Junk arranges for all visitors using shuttle bus service from Halong Bay to Hanoi with a stop in Yen Duc village and enjoys water puppet show. Come and enjoy this cultural experience, just after visiting Halong Bay.