(VOVworld) - A village festival in Vietnam is an opportunity for the locals to commemorate their ancestors and the village’s tutelary god and for visitors from all over the country to come and watch. A ritual, a procession, and folk games are the highlights of such a festival. The festival in Cao Trung hamlet, Đức Giang commune, in Hanoi’s outlying district of Hoài Đức features a popular folk game called ‘Bịt mắt bắt dê’ or “catching a goat while blindfolded”.

The folk game 'catching a goat while blindfolded' is featured in Dong Ho folk painting.

After a whistle is blown to start the game, there is shouting and applause for the blindfolded players trying to catch the goat as he runs around inside a fenced enclosure.

Children are allowed to climb onto the fence made of bamboo stakes to see more clearly as the adults whistle, scream, and shout encouragement.

Nguyễn Duy Dần, a member of the organizing board, says “catching a goat while blindfolded” is always a big hit at the annual festival of Cao Trung hamlet. Two or three blindfolded people jointly attempt to catch a goat within 5 minutes. The winner gets a prize of about 9 USD. Dần said: “if players break the rules, they have to start again from the beginning. Anyone can participate, regardless of age or gender. It’s a game for everyone.”

The original game was played as follows: one player volunteers to be the “goat” and another, the “goat catcher”. Other people form a circle around the players.

The goat and goat catcher are both blindfolded with handkerchiefs. The game begins when the referee yells, “Go!”. The goat can move wherever he or she likes but must occasionally bleat. The catcher listens for the bleats and gropes to find the goat. The goat must move quietly to avoid being caught. Since both players are blindfolded, both the goat and the goat catcher must use their ears and wits to win.

Sometimes due to distractions by viewers, the goat catchers can turn in the wrong direction and finally catch each other instead of the goat. This creates hilarious moments and prolongs the game. (Photo: Thuy Hang/ VOV5)

The other people try to distract the goat and the goat catcher and make them turn in the wrong direction. This creates hilarious moments and prolongs the game. A new round begins once the goat has been caught. Other players who want to join the game may ask to play the goat or goat catcher.

But the game in Cao Trung hamlet is a little bit different. A real goat is used as the goat. This makes the game much more interesting. A 30-square-meter ring is walled by a chest-high bamboo fence. After one or two hours, the goat gets a break and is fed some food. Dần says a pig or a chicken can be substituted for the goat. It depends on the year.

In this village, ducks are used instead of goats (Photo: news.zing.vn)

Whichever animal it is, it must be carefully chosen in advance. Dần explained in details how a goat is chosen for the game: “goats are carefully selected a month ahead of the festival. We buy goats from Ninh Binh province which is famous for mountain goats. Goats should be billy-goats of up to 50 kilos - at least 40 kg. Players are blindfolded so they can’t see anything. They often mistakenly grab other players. The player can grasp any part of the goat, but they must lift the goat at least 20 centimeters off the ground to be recognized as the winner and end the round. The game is hilarious and the spectators – even the villagers - split their sides laughing.”

Against a steady drum-beat, players hunch their backs their arms stretched in front of them, and move left or right responding to the instructions of nearby supporters. Whenever a player gets close to the goat, the crowd shouts loudly “catch it, catch it”. Sometimes supporters deliberately give wrong instructions so the players stumble and fall or catch each other, causing a sudden outburst of laughter. 24-year-old Lê Đình Hùng said enthusiastically: “I’ve played three rounds. Being blindfolded, I didn’t see anything. I ran in utter disorder. Sometimes I even seized members of the organizing board. It was exciting being cheered by strangers but I only followed the instructions of my supporters.”

Nearby supporters are trying to instruct the ‘goat catcher’ to catch the white goat. (Photo: Thuy Hang)

After a while, the goat with the white fur and the little horns got tired, and Hung, who has played several times before, became the first winner. Smiling, he said:“I caught its rear legs first. I held it tightly and struggled with it for a while before I could lift it off the ground. The goat is so big, I was afraid of being butted in the stomach.”

All expenses for the game are contributed by villagers. When the game has few winners, any money left over is donated to the village pagoda. This has become a village custom.