"The Then Words Echo Forever" of the Thai People in Phong Tho Land

The 2025 Then Kin Pang Festival with the theme "Then's words echo forever" opened on April 7 in Khong Lao commune, Phong Tho district, Lai Chau province, attracting a large number of people and tourists to participate.

Standing Vice Chairman of Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee Tong Thanh Hai emphasized that the Festival not only contributes to honoring good traditional cultural values but also affirms the position and role of traditional culture in community life.

The Standing Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Lai Chau province hopes that the Thai ethnic people in particular, the people of all ethnic groups in Phong Tho district and Lai Chau province in general, will continue to promote the achieved results, preserve, conserve and promote the fine traditional cultural identity of their people, so that culture becomes an endogenous resource in economic development, especially tourism economy, only then will culture be preserved and promoted in the most effective and complete way.

This year, the Festival is organized on a provincial scale with the participation of districts and cities in the province, the Kim Binh district delegation (Yunnan province, China) and more than 300 actors, artisans, athletes from districts, cities, communes and towns in Phong Tho district.

Reenacting the Thai people's hair-washing custom at the festival. (Photo: Nguyen Oanh/VNA)

The festival takes place from April 6-7, including the ceremony and the festival, with many rich and diverse activities imbued with the traditional cultural identity of the Thai people such as: Incense offering ceremony at the Then house; reenactment of hair washing, costume competition; performance of 6 ancient xoe dances; display of Thai ethnic cultural space; competition to preserve traditional cultural values of the Thai people (spinning, net weaving)...

In addition, tourists and locals can experience water splashing; display space, introduce OCOP products, typical agricultural products of Phong Tho district...

Coming to the Festival, visitors can fully enjoy the miniature traditional cultural space of the Thai people, have their taste buds awakened by the mountain and forest flavors of typical cuisine , admire Thai girls in "Xua Com" costumes, the Ap Ho Pang dance and most especially, be sublimated in the xoe steps and enjoy the Then melody - two Intangible Cultural Heritages that have been honored by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Then Kin Pang Festival is a unique cultural feature and folk performance form of the Thai ethnic group in the Muong So and Khong Lao areas of Phong Tho district.

Today, the festival is maintained and held annually and is increasingly spreading in the community, not only among the Thai people in particular but also among the ethnic communities in Lai Chau province./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/loi-then-vong-mai-cua-nguoi-thai-o-dat-phong-tho-post1025250.vnp