Gia Lai: Immerse yourself in the Jrai ethnic cultural space at the foot of the volcano

Located in Gri village, Bien Ho commune, Gia Lai province, Chu Dang Ya volcano is not only an attractive destination for tourists with its brilliant yellow wild sunflower season every late autumn, but also a land imbued with indigenous culture.

At the foot of that mountain, traditional stilt houses, the sound of brocade weaving, rattan baskets… are still alive as proof of a community that is persistently preserving the national soul.

During the Wild Sunflower Festival, the image of tourists wearing Jrai brocade dresses, taking photos in the middle of the brilliant yellow flower hills, is a harmonious connection between indigenous culture and the need for tourists to experience. It is a potential direction to bring Jrai culture out of the village, integrating into the flow of modern tourism .

Besides brocade weaving, basket weaving is also a unique cultural feature, closely associated with the life of the Jrai people. From bamboo and rattan, through the skillful hands of Jrai men, the rustic baskets not only serve daily life but also carry the cultural memories of an entire community.

Gongs and gongs are played at a traditional Jrai wedding ceremony. (Photo: Hoai Nam/VNA)

Not only flowers, Chu Dang Ya is also a place where time and beliefs blend into a very unique festival. Every November, the Chu Dang Ya Wild Sunflower-Volcano Week usually takes place here.

This is also an occasion for the Jrai people to awaken the memories of the mountains with sacred rituals, the rhythm of the sinus under the moon, the beating of gongs to call the sun, recreating the magical colors of the Central Highlands festivals at the foot of the million-year-old volcano.

In 2025, the Wild Sunflower Week - Chu Dang Ya Volcano takes place from November 2 to 16, with the peak being three days from November 14 to 16, 2025, promising to bring visitors a cultural and tourism festival full of identity.

Through this festival, the traditional cultural values of the Jrai people will be spread more widely, contributing to promoting sustainable tourism development.

Visitors will be immersed in a unique festival atmosphere with many rich activities such as gong performances, xoang dance, brocade weaving, introduction of traditional cultural products of ethnic minorities, along with folk games and exciting sports activities.

Village elder A Mnuih, 78 years old, in Ia Gri village, Bien Ho commune, shared: “From mid-October onwards, Chu Dang Ya began to welcome many groups of tourists to visit. Villagers eagerly prepared gong teams, cuisine, traditional rituals... so that tourists could have the deepest experience not only of natural scenery, but also witness the life of the Jrai people at the foot of the volcano”.

A matchmaker witnesses and gives advice to the bride and groom at a traditional Jrai wedding ceremony. (Photo: Hoai Nam/VNA)

Currently, Gia Lai province is urgently developing a master plan for tourism development in the Bien Ho-Chu Dang Ya area until 2030, with a vision to 2045, in accordance with the resolutions on socio-economic development of the Central Highlands and ethnic minority areas.

According to this orientation, the area will be developed in the direction of eco-cultural-community tourism, with people as the center, culture as the foundation and nature as the fulcrum.

In that context, systematic and in-depth investment to enhance indigenous cultural products such as brocade, baskets, Jrai cuisine, communal house space, traditional festivals, etc. is inevitable. Not only to serve tourists, but more importantly, it is a way for long-standing cultural values to be continued and developed in the younger generation.

According to Chairman of Gia Lai Provincial People’s Committee Pham Anh Tuan, the Bien Ho-Chu Dang Ya area is a particularly rare resource area, valuable not only to the province but also to the nation, with many favorable infrastructure conditions for tourism development. Therefore, planning work needs to be implemented urgently, but must ensure harmony between conservation and development.

Planning must have a long-term vision, focus on transport infrastructure, expand protected areas, and especially not harm the ecological environment and indigenous cultural identity./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/gia-lai-dam-minh-trong-khong-gian-van-hoa-dan-toc-jrai-duoi-chan-nui-lua-post1074805.vnp