Bun Voc Nam Festival of Lao ethnic group in the Northwest

That is the Bun Voc Nam (water splashing) Festival held once a year in mid-March of the solar calendar. The main location and highlight of the Bun Voc Nam Festival performance space is in Na Tam commune (Tam Duong district, Lai Chau province) and some localities in the Northwestern provinces where Lao ethnic people live.

Water splashing is a vibrant and attractive highlight in the Bun Voc Nam Festival.

The Bun Voc Nam Festival is usually held in the commune center, with many traditional rituals and activities such as performances reenacting the rain-praying ceremony, water-splashing ritual, water-splashing competition, culinary competition, bamboo weaving competition, raft racing, and stream fish catching competition. At the same time, folk games are organized vibrantly such as catching ducks underwater, walking on a balance bridge on the water, throwing shuttlecocks, blindfolded gong playing, cultural exchange, traditional xoe, bamboo pole dancing, etc. At the festival space, people and tourists will be able to visit the space displaying Lao ethnic culture.

The highlight of the Bun Voc Nam Festival is the ritual of worshipping the gods with sacred and solemn traditional rituals. From early morning, the village chiefs were present at the stadium where the festival was held with Lao boys and girls to prepare for the ceremony. During the ceremony, the village chiefs and young men and women wore raincoats and hats to perform simulated movements such as beating the bamboo mat, plucking palm leaves, plucking bamboo strips, etc., creating the sounds of thunder and rain. The purpose of this ritual is to pray for a year of favorable weather, good crops, and people's prosperity and peace.

The laughter blends into the cool stream, the cheers of the villagers and tourists blend into the sounds and colors of the mountains and forests in March, spectators flock from all directions, all in harmony creating a bond of solidarity between the ethnic communities. The most exciting and attractive are the competitions of the Bun Voc Nam Festival. The highlights are the water-splashing ritual and the water-splashing competition. The villages organize into water-splashing teams and invite tourists to participate, each team consists of 10 athletes (5 men, 5 women). During the competition, the teams line up horizontally in the stream, team A stands opposite team B. When the referee gives the signal, the two teams start to continuously splash water on the opposite team. During the water-splashing process, if an athlete turns to the right, to the left or gives up due to tired arms, it is considered a loss. After 3 minutes, the water-splashing stops, if the team with fewer athletes is the losing team.

Charming Lao ethnic girls in traditional costumes.

The stream fishing competition is no less exciting. The competition takes place in the stream area near the villages. Each village forms a team, along with fishing tools such as fishing nets, nets, and small traps. During the competition, the contestants are not allowed to build banks to shallow the water to catch fish, and are not allowed to use other fishing methods other than using the tools according to the rules. After 60 minutes, the teams will bring the fish to the gathering place for the judges to calculate the scores. The stream fish when scored must be whole, clean, free of trash and rocks, then the scores are calculated based on the weight of the fish caught by each team.

Indispensable in the festival are the traditional costumes worn by graceful and shy Lao women to bring a unique and impressive brocade color space.

The Bun Voc Nam Festival of the Lao ethnic group in the Northwest originates from the agricultural practice of growing wet rice, expressing the people's wish for a prosperous and happy life. This festival today is no longer exclusive to the Lao ethnic community but has spread widely inside and outside the locality, creating community cohesion, contributing to honoring the cultural identity of the ethnic communities in the Northwest.

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/van-hoa-du-lich-van-hoc-nghe-thuat/202505/le-hoi-bun-voc-nam-cua-dan-toc-lao-mien-tay-bac-739019c/