Le Mat village is located in Viet Hung commune, Gia Lam district, about 7 km from Hanoi (now in Viet Hung ward, Long Bien district, Hanoi). Le Mat is famous in the country with the traditional snake dishes and snake festival annually. The snake village is associated with the legend of conquering the giant snake of the Hoang family in Le Mat in the reign of Ly Thai Tong (1028 – 1054).

Le Mat festival is held annually from March 21-23 honored to receive the Certificate of National Intangible Cultural Heritage. The main festival takes place on the 23rd day of the Le Mat, in remembrance of the Emperor Hoang Duc Trung. Le Mat village festival is an opportunity for the descendants of the village (former residents) and their descendants to come to the remote area of Thang Long (People’s Palace) to meet and express gratitude to their ancestors.

As a traditional festival, annually during the festival, the villagers of Le Mat village hold a unique ritual of fishing. This custom was derived from the fact that the Hoang family had sacrificed their life to save the Ly princess. The ablution is a spiritual performance, through which the Princess wishes to thank the princely prince. This wish seems to have been fulfilled the night before fishing, in order to pass the rain and wind that moved fish from the West Lake to the Ngoc well. Local people also believe that the fish of the princess sent is always marked with a red dot or yellowing on the scales of the fish body.

In the festivals, throughout the village are decorated magnificently. On the main festival, representatives of the descendants of the 13 villages of the old Thang Long ancient, threw 13 gifts from the capital to the village of Le Mat festival. The village regulations are the main subject must be Le Mat; Van Phuc is the eldest of 13 village camps; Nam Hao is the West; Giang Vo is the East; three camps in Van Phuc, Kim Ma, Thu Le were the ceremony. However, the participation of the camps is not uniform, so the number and composition of the regulations also change each year. As for the protagonist, the village rule also stipulates that the priest must be a full-fledged one – that is, the royal family, whose virtues are alive with her. Priests have to fast down the whole month before joining the congregation.

Parallel to the ritual, the festival always attracts a large number of participants for other cultural activities. According to the ancient custom, whenever the village opens, Giao Long dance performance becomes the centerpiece of the festival, covering the entire time and space of the festival. Giao Long dance can be considered as a dance system consisting of many dances with its own language. Giao Long is performed during the five days of the Le Mat festival, usually when the rituals are completed by Le Mat village boys and girls.

Otherwise, coming to Le Mat, tourists can have opportunities to blow their mind with ancient beauties from the image of the old well, giant ancient trees, Princess temple, traditional tabernacle, and Le Mat temple, … The well of the Le Mat village is one of the main sites to visit in here. The area around the well is a relic of pagodas, shrines and ancient trees in which the image of banyan trees shines down to the ponds, leaving tourists unforgettable memories who come here even once.
Let’s come to Le Mat Village and dive in cultural value of Vietnam!