New Rice Festival: From cultural heritage to driving force for mountain tourism development

In July 2025, the New Rice Festival of the Co Tu ethnic group in Nam Dong, Long Quang and Khe Tre communes, Hue city was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Specifically, at Decision No. 2293/QD-BVHTTDL, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized “Bhuôih Haro Tơme – New Rice Festival of the Co Tu ethnic group in Nam Dong commune, Long Quang commune, Khe Tre commune, Hue city” as a national intangible cultural heritage in the form of traditional festivals, social customs and beliefs.

Traditional dances are performed at the New Rice Festival of the Co Tu ethnic group in Nam Dong, Long Quang, and Khe Tre communes, Hue City.

The inclusion of the New Rice Festival in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage demonstrates the State's respect and recognition of the unique cultural heritage of the Co Tu ethnic minority community in the Nam Dong region - a land rich in tradition, playing an important role in the cultural identity of the mountainous areas in Hue City.

Mr. Le Nhu Suu - Vice Chairman of Nam Dong Commune People's Committee said: Implementing Project 6 on "Preserving and promoting the fine traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities associated with tourism development", the locality has deployed many activities, including paying attention to surveying and researching typical traditional festivals in localities to exploit and build products to serve tourism development.

At the same time, the commune prioritizes the preservation of traditional festivals at risk of fading away and typical festivals to exploit and build tourism products in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. In 2024, the locality has implemented the collection and restoration of the original New Rice Festival of the Co Tu people as well as solutions to promote this festival and develop attractive tourist destinations in the mountainous areas of the district.

The New Rice Festival has been maintained from ancient times to the present in the communes where the Co Tu people live. Over time and in each locality, there are differences, but the basic rituals remain unchanged. The opening of the New Rice Festival is the scene of Co Tu girls threshing rice early in the morning. With skillful hands and diligence, they have harvested loads of ripe golden rice, reflecting a bountiful harvest of the local people.

At the communal house of the village, everyone from young to old dressed in traditional costumes to participate in the ceremony. The village elders and prestigious people were performing the rituals of the Giang worship ceremony.

The village elders prepare offerings to the spirits during the New Rice Festival of the Co Tu people.

The new rice offering tray prepared by the Co Tu people includes offerings such as: Pig, chicken, sticky rice, grilled bamboo tube rice, dried green fish, grilled fish, foods produced by the people, rice wine... Especially indispensable are Zeng fabric, agate thread, white beads and jewelry of the people.

The New Rice Festival is a very important ritual in the life of the Co Tu people in the Nam Dong region. It shows respect for the gods who have protected and brought a stable life, favorable weather and good harvests to the village.

The old village elders said that, since ancient times, rice has always been closely associated with the lives of the Co Tu people, with the mountains, forests, and fields. However, due to difficult farming conditions, the people here always wished for a prosperous life, and that is why the New Rice Festival appeared.

During the New Rice Festival, many typical cultural identities of the Co Tu people were also performed such as: the traditional tung tung da da dance, gong performance, or buffalo stabbing ritual dance with the symbolic image of a foam buffalo (instead of a real buffalo like many years ago)... Through the festival, the Co Tu people also sent a message to join hands to preserve and maintain cultural identity in the community and promote unique features to tourists.

Currently, the communes in the mountainous region of Nam Dong are exploiting community tourism spots associated with exploiting and promoting the cultural values of ethnic minorities such as: Community tourism spots in Doi village, eco-tourism at Mo waterfall (Khe Tre commune)...

Preserving the New Rice Festival of the Co Tu people as well as preserving and promoting the cultural identity values of the highland people contributes to introducing and attracting tourists to experience. In particular, the community tourism site in Doi village is considered a model of tourism development associated with the culture of the Co Tu people in Hue.

Recreating the New Rice Festival of the Co Tu people in Nam Dong, Long Quang, and Khe Tre communes, Hue City.

According to Khe Tre Commune People's Committee, community tourism in Doi village has brought positive results, contributing significantly to the socio-economic development of the locality. Currently, Doi village attracts an average of 15,000 visitors/year, of which more than 5,000 stay overnight, with an average revenue of over 5 billion VND/year.

This model is not only about numbers but also has a profound humanistic meaning. Currently, there are more than 20 households in the village directly participating in community tourism activities. This not only contributes to preserving and promoting the cultural values of the Co Tu people but also creates jobs with stable income for the local people.

According to the Department of Culture and Sports of Hue City, in 2024, the Department has taken the lead in implementing activities to build a model to preserve and promote traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities associated with tourism development in communes in the Nam Dong region.

In which, the construction of a model to preserve the culture of the Co Tu people has been organized with the following contents: Survey, investigation, statistics, information collection for model construction; hiring research experts, consulting experts to support research and model construction; providing supplies, raw materials, tools, documents for the model; organizing training on methods and skills to build and replicate models; organizing experiments on models and information to propagate and promote...

Through this, artisans, village elders, prestigious people and Co Tu ethnic people as well as folk art clubs and teams in villages, units, business households and tourism enterprises can access and benefit.

Currently, in the ethnic minority and mountainous areas of Hue City, 100% of villages have community houses, and more than 50% of villages have traditional cultural and artistic teams (clubs) that operate regularly.

Source: https://danviet.vn/le-hoi-mung-lua-moi-tu-di-san-van-hoa-den-dong-luc-phat-trien-du-lich-mien-nui-d1384316.html