Most festivals ask you to watch. This one asks you to get muddy. On October 16-17, 2026, the Tày ethnic community of Cốc Cai Village in Vietnam's northern Tuyên Quang province will host the Fish Festival, and visitors are invited to wade into the Nà Mường rice fields and catch fish by hand.

The event, also known as Tết Khẩu Ràng, has deep roots. Local history traces it back two Tày leaders, Nguyễn Viễn Rịch and Nguyễn Viễn Quang, who settled the Mậu Duệ valley centuries ago. As farming developed, villagers learned to raise carp in their flooded rice paddies — one plot producing both rice and fish, with the carp becoming a regional speciality. Every ninth day of the ninth lunar month, families give thanks to ancestors for the harvest, pray for good weather, and pass the custom down. UNESCO-style recognition arrived in 2016, when the festival was listed as National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The 2026 programme spreads across three locations. Anglers get a contest at Long Lương Bridge Lake. At Nà Mường, the highlight is the hand-fishing contest, alongside a cattle beauty contest and fish racing — yes, fish racing. Back in Cốc Cai Village there are ancestor ceremonies, traditional costumes, folk performances and stalls selling local products.

Food is a big part of the draw. A cooking contest and a night market on October 16 will showcase Tày fish dishes and regional produce, giving travellers a chance to taste how central the rice-paddy carp is to family meals here.

Mậu Duệ is also using the festival to show off its wider attractions: Nà Luông Cave, the Khau Cùa ecotourism site and an ancient tea forest at Site 41, all presented through photos and videos to encourage longer stays.

Why does this matter for travellers? Because it's participation, not spectacle. If you've never set foot in a working rice field, chasing a carp through knee-deep mud is a memorable way to understand how the Tày farming system actually works. And because the local authorities are explicit that tourism must fit around real community life — the fields stay working fields — you get something close to authentic rather than staged.

Timing tips: the festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, so the October 2026 dates line up with late autumn in the northern mountains, when the rice harvest is done and the weather has cooled. Pair it with a slow loop through Ha Giang or Ba Be Lake, both reachable from Tuyên Quang.