New Rice Festival of Muong ethnic group in Phu Long commune

Art performance at the New Rice Festival.

Delegates attending the opening ceremony of the Festival.

Attending were leaders of the Department of Culture and Sports , Heritage Data Center (Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts) and many officials, people and Muong ethnic people of Phu Long commune.

Phu Long commune was established on the basis of merging the entire natural area and population of Ky Phu commune and Phu Long commune (old). This is a land of diverse cultural identity with more than 50% of the population being Muong ethnic people.

Currently, the Muong people in Phu Long still preserve many unique cultural values such as folk performances: singing spells, love songs; folk games: playing bats, throwing con, shooting crossbows, swinging, walking on stilts... and many traditional religious rituals.

Among them, the New Rice Festival has existed for a long time, showing the beauty of the beliefs of the Muong ethnic group. The festival is held after the people have just harvested their crops and offered their homeland products to the land, ancestors, and those who have contributed to the establishment of the village.

However, due to difficult economic and social conditions, some traditional rituals of the Festival have been lost. In 2025, implementing Project 6 under the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas, the People's Committee of Phu Long Commune selected Thuong Sung village to restore the traditional New Rice Festival of the Muong ethnic group. After a period of research and collection with the support of experts, the rituals have now been completed and fully reproduced.

Offering procession ritual in the New Rice Festival in Thuong Sung village, Phu Long commune.

Delegates and people perform the rice threshing ceremony.

At the Festival, there was a ceremony to offer agricultural products to the village's tutelary deities, including many products prepared by the people such as sticky rice, chicken, rice cake... In addition, people and tourists from all over the country also enjoyed a bustling cultural program with dances and Muong songs celebrating the new rice harvest and experienced a unique cultural space with folk games such as throwing con, walking on stilts, and dancing on bamboo poles.
The restoration and organization of the New Rice Festival not only aims to preserve the cultural heritage of the Muong people but also arouses national pride, contributes to traditional education , strengthens solidarity and creates momentum for economic, cultural and tourism development of the locality in the coming time.

Minh Hai - Nguyen Huy

Source: https://baoninhbinh.org.vn/le-hoi-com-moi-dan-toc-muong-xa-phu-long-251204132522039.html