On February 17 (January 8, Giap Thin year), in Tan Lac district, Hoa Binh province, the 2024 Muong Hoa Binh ethnic group's Opening Ceremony took place solemnly, attracting thousands of people and tourists to attend.
This is the largest traditional folk festival in Hoa Binh province and has become an indispensable cultural and religious activity during the New Year of the Muong people of Hoa Binh, including 4 Muong: Bi, Vang, Thang, Dong.
The Khai Ha Festival takes place with solemn rituals. Photo: Hoa Binh Newspaper
The festival is held on the 7th and 8th of the first lunar month every year (ie the 6th and 7th of the fourth lunar month according to the Muong Bi calendar). The festival is a cultural and religious activity of a community nature, associated with the legend of the National Mother Hoang Ba, the mother of Duc Thanh Tan, who taught the Muong Bi people how to farm and make a living from farming.
This year's Khai Ha Festival is organized by Hoa Binh province on a large scale with elaborate rituals and many special programs such as: Gong performance (gong soul calling performance) by artisans; Muong gong concert with hundreds of actors and Muong gong artisans; Spring plowing ritual...
The shaman's ritual of calling the gong's soul. Photo: Hoa Binh Newspaper
Along with that, there are rituals to worship the local god, the local god, the Thanh Hoang worshiping ceremony and the procession of the National Mother Hoang Ba along with a special art program to celebrate the opening ceremony.
The festival features the following activities: Muong ethnic costume performance; cultural and culinary exhibition; traditional sports competitions: crossbow shooting, tug of war, stick pushing.
The festival of going to the fields is closely associated with wet rice agriculture , hoping for a year of bountiful harvest. Photo: Hoa Binh Newspaper
Along with that are 11 performance activities including: Sound recording performance, talisman making, ethnic brocade weaving, cake making, bamboo rice and folk games such as playing mat, capturing the flag, blindfolded drumming, walking on stilts, swinging, seesaw, throwing con...
The Khai Ha Festival of the Muong ethnic group in Hoa Binh province, also known as the Going Down to the Fields Festival or the Forest Opening Festival, is the largest traditional folk festival of the Muong people in Hoa Binh, associated with wet rice agriculture, bearing many imprints of the civilization of the ancient Vietnamese people. In 2022, the Khai Ha Festival of the Muong ethnic group in Hoa Binh province was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Khanh Ngoc
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