Ngoc Chien – a land dubbed by tourists as the "fairytale countryside" of the Northwest mountains – boasts over 560 hectares of rice paddies, stretching across villages and surrounding the traditional houses of the Thai, Mong, and La Ha ethnic groups.
According to Bui Tien Sy, Secretary of the Party Committee of the commune, in the past, after a year of food shortages and famine, when the new rice harvest came, the ethnic people in the commune would organize a celebration of the new rice harvest to commemorate their ancestors who pioneered the village.
Today, despite improved living standards and people having enough food and clothing, the harvest festival is still celebrated, signifying the end of the harvest season, thanksgiving to heaven and earth, deities, and ancestors.
It is also an opportunity for people to meet, interact, and learn from each other's experiences in agricultural production; and to educate their children to maintain, preserve, and promote the traditional cultural values of the Thai ethnic group in Ngoc Chien commune.
This year's festival takes place over two days, September 2nd and 3rd, and consists of two parts. The first part is the ceremony with the offering of new rice at the Don Ho ancestral temple in Muong Chien village. The shaman performs rituals expressing gratitude to ancestors and the heavens, praying for favorable weather, a bountiful harvest, and a prosperous and fulfilling life. After the ceremony at the ancestral temple, households prepare offerings of new rice at home.
The festival section, themed "Ngoc Chien New Rice Season 2023," includes competitions such as: making puffed rice, stilt walking, badminton (Hmong ethnic group's game), men's and women's pomelo football; cultural performances; snake-eating frog game; beeswax painting; fishing; blindfolded banana tree stabbing; Sua Kin Mu game (tiger-eating pig); culinary competition; and a folk art performance night and a solidarity circle dance.
Particularly noteworthy are the rituals of the Buffalo Sacrifice Ceremony and the Buffalo Prince Contest. The Buffalo Sacrifice Ceremony is one of the characteristic rituals of the Thai people of Son La, deeply rooted in the culture of wet-rice agriculture, and holds significant importance in the economic and cultural life of the Thai ethnic group.
Through festival activities, a bond is forged within the community, recreating a solemn and sacred cultural space according to traditional folk rituals, harmoniously combined with modernity. This creates a highlight that attracts a large number of tourists from near and far to experience and explore.
Source
Comment (0)