Marian Days

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The Marian Days (Vietnamese: Ngày Thánh Mẫu, colloquially Đại hội Thánh Mẫu) is the main festival and pilgrimage for Vietnamese American Catholics and the largest Vietnamese event outside Vietnam. The annual event, inaugurated in 1978, ordinarily takes place on the first weekend in August in honor of the Virgin Mary on the campus of the Congregation of the Mother of the Redeemer (CRM) in Carthage, Missouri. Tens of thousands of attendees come annually from the United States and other countries across the globe, including Canada, Vietnam, and various parts of Europe. Attendees either opt to camp in parks and yards or fill up local hotels, which additionally boosts the economy of the city and neighboring ones as well. Some residents of Carthage have disapproved of the event, and gang activity in the 1990s and early 2000s has resulted in gun and knife violence. However, many residents look forward to the festival each year and attend to partake in Vietnamese cuisine. Though the event is religious in nature, it is also a cultural one that brings Vietnamese families across the United States and the world together in a central location and offers them a way to reconnect with their culture.