Cultural colors in Lam Thuong

In the ninth lunar month, when the glutinous rice flowers are plump and round, is the best time to make green rice flakes. This is also the time when the Tay and Dao people in Lam Thuong are excitedly preparing for the “Cac keng” festival - a festival of pounding green rice to thank heaven and earth and celebrate a good harvest. Nowadays, “Cac keng” is organized as the Lam Thuong Ethnic Culture Festival - a lively and attractive cultural exhibition.

Early in the morning, from late autumn to early winter, I saw Lam Thuong wake up at a different rhythm. Normally, the sound of chickens and people is enough to make the whole village bustling, but today, from every corner, there were also the sounds of drums, flutes, and cheerful laughter - signs of a festival.

The small commune nestled between mountains and green hillsides seems to be wearing a new shirt with fluttering flags, colorful brocades, the bright shirts of Tay women, the elaborate red costumes of the Dao people and the concrete road leading to the stadium seems wider and more beautiful.

The Lam Thuong Ethnic Culture Festival is an opportunity to display cultural artifacts and local products, so that the ethnic communities here can tell their cultural stories in unison. From afar, the loudspeakers can be heard, but it is not a noisy invitation from the city - it is a simple, warm invitation, like a mother calling her child to dinner.

I followed the quick footsteps; children cheered, old people had radiant faces, graceful young women in colorful dresses, young men changed into new clothes, all like musical notes resounding together in a chorus.

The stadium was decorated, in the middle was a small stage but enough to show the invisible richness of culture. Lam Thuong commune today was merged from 4 communes: Mai Son, Khanh Thien, Tan Phuong and Lam Thuong. Everyone was excited because the merger made the festival more joyful, more crowded, especially more colorful.

The festival's contents are dense, with performances of typical folk dances by Tay and Dao girls with graceful movements that seem to let their souls fly into the wind.

Every movement, every smile contains a simple yet enduring, soft yet resolute philosophy of life. The artisans wear sparkling costumes, each embroidery and patch like a story told in colored thread.

Mrs. Trieu Thi Binh, a Dao ethnic in Khe Bin village, her veiny hands are still skillful with embroidery needles. She said: “Each pattern is a message left by our ancestors. Looking at the patterns, we can see the history of our lives.” As for me - the viewer, I not only see the beauty but also see the words of the fields and mountains of Lam Thuong.

The “Cac keng” festival cannot lack the green rice pounding competition. Lao Mu sticky rice is grown in many villages such as Tong Luong, Tong Mo, Tong Ang, and Lang Giau. Through the skillful hands and endurance of the women, the rice clumps are turned over and over again until the sticky rice grains are evenly cooked, then left to cool completely before being pounded in the mortar. Each team shows their strength and dexterity to have the most beautiful green rice grains in the shortest time.

In a corner of the yard, I stopped in front of a stall selling traditional crafts and local products. Colorful shirts, special headdresses used only in Dao women’s weddings, bamboo shoots, forest leaves… and even a wooden spinning top were neatly arranged.

Spinning top - a seemingly small game in Lam Thuong - today becomes a special highlight of the festival, attracting both men and women, the elderly and children.

They stood in a circle, spinning the top in their hands, their eyes sparkling with joy. They competed to hold the top the longest, passing it on to each other as if passing on a secret. Sometimes the top spun so fast that it created tiny rays of light like falling stars.

After the competition, the old people gathered to play tops, standing firmly like statues with their feet and hands. Hoang Thi Tam, nearly 70 years old in Lang Giau village, said that she had been playing tops since she was a child and was still very fond of them. She played them during the village and communal festivals and never got bored. She also said that playing tops was to train her health for productive labor. Her words made me realize that most of the games at the Festival had a large number of women participating, including the competitions that required physical strength such as the fishing net throwing competition and women's soccer.

What intrigued me most was the women's soccer match. In other places, women would be spectators, but in Lam Thuong, they were players.

I saw skillful shots, decisive passes and smiles after each play. The image of women wearing traditional dresses, not afraid to collide for the ball, not afraid to contribute to beautiful plays... as a symbol of the connection between tradition and modernity. The audience cheered with affectionate looks as if watching a powerful dance.

At noon, the festival meal was served, with a variety of traditional dishes. Everyone gathered around, shared a piece, and talked about the festival and the village.

I sat near a group of young people, they talked to each other about their intention to do community tourism to preserve traditional occupations, promote culture... The association is not only a memory but also a springboard for the future.

As the night wore on, the festival space became bustling again with the appearance of the fire dance. Not a purely adventurous activity for entertainment, fire dance in Lam Thuong carries within it a ritual depth, a covenant between humans and gods, between the community and nature.

When the coals were red hot, the sounds of the flute, the đàn tính and the drums rhythmically urged the footsteps, the village elders performed the opening ceremony - praying, pouring wine, inviting the ancestors and the gods to bless. The words were released like small needles piercing the space, praying for peace in the village, bountiful crops, and good health for the people.

Then the music changed to a fast beat, and the dancers stepped out, their eyes blazing with fire, their faces fierce yet calm. Their steps were orderly, each move passed down through the generations from tiptoeing, to lightly bouncing, to landing in the middle of the hot coals.

An old woman sitting nearby whispered: “Touching the fire with bare feet is to show our faith, to tell the forest that we are children of this land.”

Then there were cheers in rhythm, but the main thing was still a respectful silence, as if participating in a sacred dialogue. Many times I witnessed a serene smile on their faces after overcoming the challenge - it was a strengthened belief, an affirmation of themselves and the community. Children stood close to the fence, eyes eager, their small hands clapping in rhythm, as if learning to believe in something greater than themselves.

At the end of the fire dance, visitors clapped slowly to the rhythm of the people, not to cheer for individual victories but to show gratitude for the ritual that connected them to their roots. In that moment, fire became a symbol of purification, a symbol of courage, faith and the bond between the Dao people and the earth.

Before leaving the festival, I stood still, imagining the brocade colors swirling in the wind, the then singing still ringing, the footsteps still echoing on the soccer field, and the firelight on the insteps of the dancers running across the coal piles, leaving temporary coal traces and then disappearing... The Lam Thuong people have laid out a living diary, where the past meets the present, where tradition continues to live, change and spread.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/sac-mau-van-hoa-o-lam-thuong-post885901.html