The Púng Hiéng Festival (Summer New Year Festival) is closely associated with the spiritual life of the Dao Tien people in Doan Ket, Tan Yen communes, Thao Nguyen ward and Van Son ward, Son La province.
Through festivals, the belief in ancestor worship and deities, as well as the spirit of kinship and community solidarity, are protected and promoted.
With those values, in Decision No. 2214/QD-BVHTTDL dated June 27, 2025, the festival was inscribed on the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The biggest festival of the Dao Tien people.
According to the records of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Púng Hiéng is also the largest festival of the Dao Tien people. The main practitioners of this heritage are the Dao Tien community, with major clans such as Tặng, Bàn, Đặng, Lý, and Triệu playing a central role.
The Púng Hiéng festival is held approximately every 3 to 4 years, taking place from the 29th day of the 12th lunar month to the 2nd day of the 1st lunar month at the head of the clan's house.
The clan leader and the shamans are responsible for conducting the rituals and ceremonial dances. All adult men in the clan are directly involved in the rituals. Women and young men are responsible for preparing offerings, food , decorations, and welcoming guests.
Originating from a clan's ancestral worship ritual, the festival holds shared significance for the entire Dao Tien community.
Besides family members, people from the local area and friends were also invited to attend, thereby contributing to strengthening social relationships and enriching cultural and spiritual life.
From the beginning of the year, the clan leader instructed the family members to choose and raise a good breed of pig; families in the clan proactively planted a lot of glutinous rice to make banh chung (gua trong) and banh nep (ca cheng) as offerings during the Pung Hieng festival.
Throughout the year, families within the clan would work together to help the clan leader stockpile plenty of dry firewood for cooking or to light fires for guests to warm themselves against the biting cold of late winter in the mountainous region.
In the last days of the twelfth lunar month, families send people to help the clan leader clean and tidy the house, arrange furniture, and make space for the festival. Cooking stoves are set up outdoors, firewood is neatly stacked, and water containers are filled... On the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, everyone gathers at the clan leader's house to grind rice flour to prepare cakes, cut bamboo and sugarcane to decorate the ancestral altar.
On the morning of the 30th day of the 12th lunar month, the clan leader and the shaman carefully perform the ritual of hanging the portraits of the Three Pure Ones (Ngoc Thanh, Thuong Thanh, and Thai Thanh). According to the Dao Tien people's beliefs, the Three Pure Ones are three deities originating from Taoism who govern the three realms (heaven, earth, and the underworld), and their portraits are respectfully displayed next to the ancestral altar (Hang Hua Tan) until the end of the festival.
On the afternoon of the 30th day of the Lunar New Year, the men are assigned to slaughter pigs, while the women take on the task of kneading dough and making cakes. The dough is molded into round balls and shapes of monkeys, bears, etc., and then cooked and attached to bamboo branches or sugarcane stalks, symbolizing prosperity and growth. The remaining people will craft paper money; prepare musical instruments and dance props; invite shamans and ceremonial dancers…
The festival begins with the New Year's Opening Ceremony, called khoi hiéng in the Dao Tien language, which consists of three parts: the New Year's offering ceremony performed directly by the clan leader; the welcoming dance (cong cho mien dung) performed by members of the clan to welcome the deities and ancestors to the New Year's Opening Ceremony; and the feast, where the entire clan shares their first communal meal of the festival.
Secondly, there is the "Xuất Binh" ceremony (Xuất Panh). Immediately after New Year's Eve, the clan leader will preside over the "Xuất Binh" ritual, praying to the gods and ancestors for blessings, to drive away all the bad things of the old year such as evils, diseases, illnesses, epidemics, natural disasters, and misfortunes from the house and the village, and to welcome a new year of good fortune, prosperity, intelligence, and talent.
Thirdly, there is the ceremony of praying for intelligence (pái hiéng), which means asking for wisdom, good fortune, health, and talent for the descendants of the family.
Reenactment of the Púng Hiếng festival of the Dao Tiền people at the ceremony recognizing it as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage, November 15, 2025. (Photo: PV/Vietnam+)
Fourth is the dance to welcome the deities (Hậu Héng). This is a lively part of the festival, where everyone present joins in a bell dance to welcome the deities and ancestors who have come to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year.
Thursday is the "Thu Binh" ceremony (super panh), celebrated with joy to welcome good things in the new year, such as a bountiful harvest, good health, children, and wealth into the home.
Throughout the festival, the sounds of drums, gongs, cymbals, and horns resound, combined with bell dances and ritual songs in the Dao language, creating a sacred and vibrant atmosphere, expressing reverence for ancestors while also conveying prayers for peace and blessings for the community.
Friday is the harvest prayer ceremony (uệng), led by the clan leader, who carries offerings, including gongs and drums, to the village's local shrine. The entire clan performs 18 dances in front of the shrine before returning to the clan leader's house.
The ceremony concludes with the New Year's Eve ritual (siêu hiéng) presided over by the clan leader. A characteristic offering is diluted rice wine. The clan leader offers the diluted rice wine to the deities and ancestors, burns paper money for them, and casts an oracle to request permission to cut down bamboo and sugarcane stalks so that descendants can harvest the glutinous rice flour attached to them, symbolizing the receiving of blessings and good fortune. The ceremony also bids farewell to the deities and ancestors, marking the end of the festival.
The enduring vitality of Dao Tien culture
The Púng Hiéng Festival (Summer New Year Festival) of the Dao Tien people in Son La province is a religious activity of ancestor worship with Taoist influences, strongly reflecting the unique characteristics of the ethnic group.
Through the festival, the tradition of "drinking water and remembering the source," expressing gratitude for merits and praying for the blessings of supernatural forces, is clearly demonstrated.
Furthermore, the festival is an opportunity for families and villages to strengthen their solidarity. In particular, the festival creates an environment for performing, preserving, and passing on the rich system of ritual dances, traditional musical instruments, devotional songs, costumes, and more.
The Púng Hiéng festival has a long history and profound significance, serving as proof of the enduring vitality of the Dao Tien culture in modern life.
Recognizing the special value of the festival, over the years, the local government and the cultural sector of Son La province have implemented many measures to preserve and promote the value of this heritage.
Dao Tien women in Son La. (Photo: PV/Vietnam+)
Specifically, cultural agencies have collected and documented traditional rituals, prayers, dances, musical instruments, and costumes used in festivals; they have also organized training for the younger generation, encouraged folk artisans to participate in guiding, performing, and recreating these rituals in local cultural and tourism events.
In addition, the province also focuses on preserving the original cultural space of the festival, linking the organization of Púng Hiéng with the protection of sacred forests, water sources, and the ecological environment - sacred elements associated with the beliefs of the Dao Tien people.
Through media promotion, ethnic cultural festivals, and community tourism activities, Púng Hiéng has not only been preserved in its original form but also its values have been disseminated in modern life, contributing to the preservation of cultural identity and strengthening the solidarity of the Dao Tien community in Son La.
(Vietnam+)
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/bao-ton-di-san-le-hoi-pung-hieng-cua-nguoi-dao-tien-o-tinh-son-la-post1074756.vnp
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