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On the 23rd day of the third lunar month each year, the charming village of Le Mat near the capital of Hanoi, Vietnam, bursts in a celebratory profusion of joy at its Snake Festival to celebrate a local legend of heroism and magic. For ample enjoyment, ensure you check into one of the luxury apartments Hanoi has to offer you, with the Somerset Grand Hanoi presenting an excellent example of Hanoi accommodation for you to avail yourself. The village of Le Mat has long had serpentine ties that lend it an aura of mystery and enchantment. Its primary lures are the elements of snake-catching, the brewing of snake wine, snake breeding, and the list goes on. The emphasis on the hissy being stems from a local legend that tells of a poor man who rescued a visiting King from a huge snake who appeared in front of the quavering monarch. The man asked, as a reward, for the land to be used for housing the region’s poor, who hailed from 13 farms. The king agreed, and the village of Le Mat was born. Since then, thirteen representatives from the farms bear offerings to the village where their patron saint, the saviour from legend, is venerated. Live re-enactments of the legend, as well as a special “water procession” form part of the festival. It also presents an opportunity for the people of Le Mat to practice the ancient practice of “ancestor worship”, which serves to reaffirm ties between the present and the past whence they came.

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