Rich in traditional festivals

Festivals have become an indispensable part of religious life, satisfying the people's desire to return to their roots, balance their spiritual lives, and enjoy and create culture. Among them, the festivals of ethnic minorities possess unique and valuable characteristics. Therefore, preserving and promoting these spiritual and cultural values ​​is extremely necessary and requires continued attention and adequate investment from all levels, sectors, and localities.

Reenacting the initiation ceremony at the Wind-Avoiding Festival of the Dao Thanh Phan ethnic group in Binh Lieu district.

Quang Ninh currently has 42 ethnic minority groups living together. Each group has its own festivals associated with customs, traditions, beliefs, and agricultural production. For each festival, the main meaning remains the prayer for blessings, a bountiful harvest, and a peaceful and prosperous life. The offerings presented during the festivals are not elaborate but usually consist of products that the people produce themselves, such as chicken, pork, duck, fish, rice, corn, bamboo shoots, and traditional cakes.

During festivals, people often choose their most beautiful and newest traditional costumes to participate in cultural exchange activities, sing traditional folk songs, and play folk games such as archery, spinning tops, tug-of-war, stick pushing, and throwing the ball. Each festival brings a lively and joyful atmosphere to the villages, strengthens community bonds, and continuously inspires in each person the awareness of preserving, protecting, and passing on precious cultural values.

When mentioning the festivals of ethnic minority groups, it's impossible not to mention Binh Lieu district, where over 96% of the population are ethnic minorities. Therefore, Binh Lieu has become a land of unique and typical traditional festivals, such as: the Luc Na communal house festival of the Tay people, the Soong Co singing festival of the San Chi people, and the Kieng Gio festival of the Dao Thanh Phan people.

Accordingly, the Wind-Avoiding Festival originates from the custom of the Dao Thanh Phan people to avoid wild animals and natural disasters, and to pray for a bountiful harvest and prosperity. They believe that on the 4th day of the 4th lunar month each year, the whole family leaves the house early so that the Wind God can enter the house, taking away misfortunes and worries and bringing in good fortune, prosperity, and abundance. On this day, the Dao Thanh Phan people in the villages set aside their daily work to go out, visit relatives and friends, share a meal together, chat, sing folk songs, and go to the market to buy necessary household items. Similarly, the Soong Co Festival is the biggest festival of the year for the San Chi people. This festival is an opportunity for the people to engage in folk cultural activities, expressing and exchanging feelings within the San Chi community…

Traditional long-shaped sticky rice cake wrapping competition at the San Diu ethnic group's Culture and Sports Festival in Tien Yen district in 2023.

Comrade To Thi Nga, Deputy Head of the Culture and Information Department of Binh Lieu District, shared: Along with maintaining the well-organized traditional festivals and events of ethnic minorities every year with full rituals and activities, the district also allocates many resources to the collection, restoration, and reenactment of unique rituals of ethnic minorities in their daily lives, such as the wedding ceremony of the Dao and San Chi people, the baby's first birthday ceremony of the Tay people, the coming-of-age ceremony of the Dao people... during each festival. This both educates the younger generation about traditional culture and history and contributes to introducing and spreading the beautiful culture of the ethnic minority communities of Binh Lieu to tourists.

In recent years, localities with large ethnic minority populations have focused on organizing and developing new festivals and events based on the farming and agricultural production practices of the people. This not only meets the needs for cultural exchange, arts, and sports activities of ethnic minorities but also exploits their unique cultural characteristics to create unique and attractive tourism products. Notable examples include: the Golden Harvest Festival and the So Flower Festival (Binh Lieu); the Golden Harvest Festival in Soong Co Dai Duc; the San Diu Ethnic Culture and Sports Festival (Tien Yen); the Tay Ethnic Culture Festival (Ba Che); and the Border Sim Flower Festival (Mong Cai)...

An exchange of Soóng cọ singing by the Sán Chỉ ethnic group in Đại Dực commune (Tiên Yên district) within the framework of the 2024 Đại Dực Soóng cọ Golden Harvest Festival.

Around the end of October and beginning of November, the villages in Dai Duc commune (Tien Yen district), a highland area, are bathed in a brilliant golden light as the rice ripens on the terraced fields. This is also an occasion for the San Chi people to come together and celebrate the festival.   The golden season in Soóng Cọ, Đại Dực commune, brings joy, singing, and celebrating the fruits of labor. Ms. Chìu Móc Xênh, from Khe Lặc village, Đại Dực commune, excitedly shared: "This is the fourth year the festival has been held in the commune, and everyone, from young to old, is enthusiastic to participate. Activities like Soóng Cọ singing, spinning tops, harvest rituals, and Sán Chỉ women's football, though familiar in daily life, are still diligently practiced by the people to showcase and introduce the beauty of our homeland's culture to friends and visitors from near and far."

It can be seen that the festivals and celebrations of ethnic minority communities, whether long-standing or newly organized, are further enhancing the colorful cultural landscape of ethnic minority communities in Quang Ninh province within the flow of modern culture, constantly enriching the cultural identity and people of Quang Ninh.

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/phong-phu-sinh-dong-cac-le-hoi-truyen-thong-3326920.html