Vietnamese ethnic groups’ cultural festival in April
To celebrate Vietnamese Ethnic Groups' Culture Day (April 19), a festival is taking place from April 1 to May 3 at the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism on the outskirts of Ha Noi.
Latest
Themed as “Colorful culture of Viet Nam's ethnic groups", this event is highlighted by the Dance festival (Tet Nhay) of Dao ethnic people, the Praying-for-rain festival of Thai ethnic people and the "Highland ethnic market - Son La rendezvous".
These festivals will be recreated at the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism in April 2022.
 |
| “Turtle dance" is the last and most important dance in the Dance festival of the Dao ethnic people. (Photo: People's Army Newspaper) |
The Dance festival is held as the gratitude towards ancestors and the wishes for family members. During the festival, there are worshiping, dancing and poem reading performances.
The dances include literary dances and martial dances. The literary dances represent an invitation from descendants to their ancestors for coming to the holiday and blessing them with good health and prosperity. The martial dances, meanwhile, are powerful dances, recreating the Dao people’s history when their ancestors had to fight against harsh nature and enemies to build a prosperous and happy life.
The Praying-for-rain festival of Thai people conveys a message of wishing for good crops and prosperous living. This also refers to the close-knit relationship between human and nature, therefore if they respect nature, it will bring good things to their lives.
The preservation and promotion of cultural values in this festival is believed to raise awareness of environmental protection, create various unique products for tourism, as well as increasingly attract visitors to Moc Chau plateau.
On April 30 and May 1, the "Highland ethnic market - Son La rendezvous" will occur, simulating the traditional highland markets of the Northwest and Northeast ethnic groups. The market comprises 10 booths of Son La, offering agricultural products, specialities such as Thang co, Men men, Moc Chau’s corn wine, colored sticky rice. There are also 2 booths for promoting tourism with the theme "Let’s come and feel Son La".
In addition, there are about 20 booths introducing local products of Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Hoa Binh, Thai Nguyen, and Ba Vi (Ha Noi) such as brocade, fine art items, wine, ethnic flavorings, herbal medicine, dried bamboo shoots, honey, mien Dong, etc. There are 10 thatched booths introducing traditional cuisine of ethnic people such as Ri chickens, Man pigs and wild vegetables.
Many beautiful photos about the colorful culture of the Northwest will also be introduced at the highland market. The program "Sac mau cho phien” (Colors of ethnic markets) will be attended by Northern ethnic minority groups with performances of folk songs, folk dances, cultural exchanges between ethnic communities to spread the love of country, region and the ethnic identity.
The ethnic people also participate in folk games like spinning (tu lu), climbing poles, pushing sticks, and pounding Banh Day together with visitors.
 |
| Khen Mong is a typical and unique musical instrument playing an important role for the spiritual life of Mong ethnic people. (Photo: SKP) |
In particular, the Mong ethnic group (Moc Chau, Son La) will introduce their Khen’s art (National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2018).
The Khen is a unique musical instrument, a sacred object in every festival of the Mong people, expressing traditional rituals and beliefs. The folk performances of the Mong people are associated with the Khen, whose sounds partly express the natural beauty of majestic mountains, the bright and homely character of the Mong people.
The sound of Khen is said to deeply penetrate in the hearts of Mong people as the most familiar things since they were born.
When the artisans of Son La’s ethnic groups introduce their traditional handicraft products, the Pieu scarf is mentioned as an indispensable jewelry of Thai girls in daily life, and every occasion.
Pieu scarf is a wonderful work of art, a cultural and spiritual product imbued with indigenous identity made by the skillful hands of Thai women, which creates a unique beauty for traditional costume of Thai ethnic people.
