Celebrating the Pồn Pôông Festival

As spring arrives and the earth blossoms, the Muong people gather to celebrate the Pon Poong festival. The fragrance and colors of the mountains and forests blend with the lively sounds of gongs, drums, and the laughter of the festival-goers, creating a vibrant spring atmosphere throughout the villages.

The performances all revolve around the cotton plant, mimicking customs and traditions, and reflecting the spiritual and cultural life of the Muong people.

The festival is deeply rooted in Muong culture.

For generations, the Muong people in districts such as Ngoc Lac, Cam Thuy, Thach Thanh, and Ba Thuoc have maintained the tradition of preparing to fold flowers, make props, and erect flower trees to perform the Pon Poong play during the spring festival, the first lunar month, or the full moon of the third and seventh lunar months.

In the Muong language, "Pon" means to play, to frolic, to dance; "Poong" means flower; "Pon Poong" means dancing beside flowers. Through the Poong festival, the Muong people hope for a bountiful harvest, prosperity for their village, full granaries of corn and rice, and happiness for all. The festival is both a ritual for seeking blessings and peace, and a form of courtship between men and women.

The festival is presided over by the respected women of the village, known for their skills in rituals, herbal remedies, and beautiful dancing and singing. The festival also features young men and women participating in the flower-playing activities.

The Pồn Pôông festival consists of two parts: the ceremonial part and the festive part (performances). In the ceremonial part, Ậu Máy will use verses to inform the spirits that this year's harvest is bountiful, and the villagers are holding a festival to express their gratitude to heaven and earth for the favorable weather, the happiness of the people, and to invite the ancestral spirits and the king to come and celebrate.

In the festival's performance, all the acts revolve around the cotton tree – the central object of the festival, symbolizing the vast universe, encompassing all things that creation has bestowed upon humanity. On the 3-meter-high bamboo cotton tree hangs 5 ​​or 7 tiers of clusters of flowers dyed green, red, purple, and yellow, along with models of animals, farming tools, and human creations... symbolizing abundance and prosperity.

The Pồn Pôông art form features 48 unique games and performances, with Bà Máy as the main character, along with other roles such as Ông Pố, Nàng Quắc, Nàng Choóng Loong, King Út, King Ả, King Cả, King Hai... and a distinctive Mường musical system including the ôi flute, tam bu, and gongs. The festival recreates, simulates, and recounts the cultural life of the Mường people from their early days of slash-and-burn agriculture, land and water distribution, house building, rice cultivation, embroidery and weaving, hunting wild animals, cockfighting, buffalo fighting, wrestling, fishing, flower dancing, fortune-telling, preparing meals to invite Mường people and friends to eat new rice, drinking rice wine...

The resounding sounds of music, gongs, and drums, mingled with shouts, laughter, and conversation, create a joyful and vibrant atmosphere, encouraging a spirit of enthusiastic work ahead of a new spring.

Preserving and passing on the soul and essence of the Muong land.

Due to the development of modern cultural and artistic forms, the Pồn Pôông Festival was temporarily forgotten. It wasn't until 1987, when Thanh Hóa province began preserving folk games and performances, that the Pồn Pôông Festival was revived.

For over 80 years, People's Artisan Pham Thi Tang, residing in Lo village, Cao Ngoc commune, Ngoc Lac district, has lived in an environment steeped in the soul and essence of the Muong people. She has become the keeper of the "soul and essence" of Muong culture in Cao Ngoc commune in particular, and of the Muong people of Thanh Hoa province in general.

"I've been involved with the Pồn Pôông performance for almost 70 years now, as attached as husband and wife, or mother and child. The festival brings joy and excitement to people," Máy Tăng shared.

The flame of Pồn Pôông, passed down from artisan Phạm Thị Tắng, has been spreading to succeeding generations. From villages and hamlets to communes and then expanding to district and provincial-level training classes, the footprints of artisan Phạm Thị Tắng can be found everywhere. The number of students taught by artisan Phạm Thị Tắng has reached hundreds.

In 2016, the Pồn Pôông Festival in Cao Ngọc commune, Ngọc Lặc district, was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. Ngọc Lặc district is also striving to promote and highlight the value of the festival in particular, as well as Mường culture in general, in daily life.

Mr. Pham Dinh Cuong, Head of the Culture and Information Department of Ngoc Lac District, said: “The district has intensified propaganda efforts to inform the public about the great value of Pon Poong; focused on incorporating Pon Poong performances into festivals; established Pon Poong performance clubs, combined with tourism development. To date, all 213 villages in the district have Pon Poong trees and performing arts groups that know how to perform Pon Poong.”

Text and photos: Anh Tuan

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/vui-hoi-pon-poong-238005.htm