Traditional games foster community bonding.

Son La province is home to 12 ethnic groups, each with its own distinct culture and a rich variety of folk games. These folk games are incorporated into activities throughout the province during festivals, holidays, and major events, fostering solidarity within the community and contributing to the preservation of the traditional cultural beauty of the ethnic groups.

Traditional folk games among ethnic minorities originate from daily life, labor, and production. They are simple, inexpensive, and use readily available and easy-to-make tools, thus attracting players and creating a lively and joyful atmosphere. Some games require intelligence, quick observation, and good judgment, such as chess, crossbow shooting, and throwing the ball; others are more focused on sports and physical fitness, such as stick pushing and walking on a monkey bridge. Some games require collective strength and coordinated teamwork, contributing to unity and cohesion within the community, such as tug-of-war and dragon-snake games.

The people of Muong Hung commune play the game "to mak le".

Despite many changes to adapt to new sports, traditional folk games are still regularly organized during festivals in villages, especially on the National Unity Day held in November every year. What's striking is that these games are organized without grand stadiums or grandstands, but on open spaces or in the courtyards of village cultural centers. The lively and joyful atmosphere attracts large numbers of participants.

Mr. Lo Van Hac, Party Secretary and Head of Luot village, Ngoc Chien commune, said: "During holidays, festivals, and important events of the village, locality, and country, the village always organizes exchange and celebratory activities. These include traditional folk games such as throwing the ball, to mak le, tug-of-war, and blindfolded drum beating… The villagers enthusiastically participate, creating a joyful and united atmosphere."

People of Co Ma commune participate in the stick-pushing competition at the Thuan Chau Highland Ethnic Groups Cultural Week.

For the Hmong people, pao throwing has become a traditional game during festivals and holidays, especially for Hmong boys and girls, as a way to get acquainted and find love.

Ms. Song Thi Sua, from Hua Ngay village, Co Ma commune, said: To make the pao (lu po), Mong women usually sew together pieces of linen fabric to form a round ball, about the size of an orange, stuffed with flax seeds inside. The pao made by young women are more colorful and eye-catching, while the pao made by teenage girls are simpler, smaller, and usually black. In the pao throwing game, players are divided into two teams, male and female, each with 3-10 people, standing opposite each other, with the two teams about 5-8 meters apart. The skill of the pao thrower lies in not letting the pao fall to the ground.

Tug-of-war competitions are held in school units.

In the current trend of integration, the province pays special attention to the preservation, maintenance, and development of folk games, especially the effective implementation of ethnic cultural preservation, including the promotion of folk games through support from national target projects and programs in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. Departments and localities focus on training and developing cultural cadres, especially those from ethnic minority groups, in order to preserve ethnic cultural traditions.

Archery competitions are held in school units.

Every year at the beginning of the year, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism maintains the tradition of organizing competitions in traditional ethnic sports such as tug-of-war, throwing the "con" (a type of ball), stilt walking, "tu lu" game, stick pushing, etc. Last October, the Department organized a tournament of traditional sports and folk games of ethnic minorities under the national target program associated with the 130th anniversary of the founding of Son La province, creating opportunities for people to interact, learn, and encouraging the development of mass sports movements in the community.

Communes and wards in the province incorporate traditional sports competitions into cultural events and festivals, integrating them with activities celebrating major national and provincial holidays. In addition, the communes of Ngoc Chien, Ta Xua, Moc Chau, and Van Ho collect, restore, and maintain a number of folk games for tourists to experience, promoting the development of local tourism.

Organizing folk games during festivals and holidays has long been a beautiful cultural tradition of the ethnic groups in Son La . These activities aim to preserve and maintain traditional culture, encourage the development of ethnic sports, strengthen community bonds, create a joyful and vibrant atmosphere, motivate people to work hard in production, and contribute to building a more prosperous, beautiful, and civilized homeland.

Source: https://baosonla.vn/van-hoa-xa-hoi/tro-choi-dan-toc-gan-ket-cong-dong-Xu5QRLnvR.html