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Experience Traditional Festivals Lao Cai City During The Lunar New Year 2025
Lao Cai has a total of 25 ethnic groups, so every spring, there are many cultural festivals taking place. Let’s travel to Lao Cai to learn about some of the festivals taking place around Lao Cai city during the Lunar New Year 2025.
1. Xuong dong Festival (Long Tong festival)
This is a traditional festival of the Tay people in Hop Thanh commune, located right next to the center of Lao Cai city. The festival is held at the beginning of the new year, with the wish to pray for national peace, people’s peace, every family is happy, favorable weather, good crops, everyone is healthy, families encourage each other to develop the economy.
Before the festival, families clean their houses, clean the village, prepare food to welcome guests. The festival usually has two parts: the ceremony and the festival. The ceremony takes place with the “Then” worship ceremony by a reputable shaman in the village to pray for everyone to achieve all their wishes. According to custom, each clan prepares a tray of offerings according to its ability, and a larger clan can prepare 2 to 3 trays of offerings to offer to the gods. After burning incense, the drum will be beaten to start the festival. The first part of the festival is the “ Nem con” (Con throwing) festival. “Con” is a ball made of small pieces of cloth connected into a square shape with edges, stuffed with cotton seeds inside, the string is also sewn with cloth about 60cm, one end is attached to the middle of the “con” ball. This is the most exciting activity, attracting the most participants. When the “con” pierces the center of the circle, it means that yin and yang are in harmony, life will flourish, the harvest will be bountiful, and whoever throws the first ball into the center will be awarded a prize, considered a lucky sign for the whole year, blessed by the gods. If at any festival no one throws the ball and hits the circle, piercing the bull’s eye, the villagers are not happy, because according to the concept, it is a sign of an unfavorable new year, this is a unique feature that only the Tay ethnic group has.
Offerings to the gods at festival
At the festival, there is also a plowing competition, pairs of strong buffaloes pulling, making spring plowing lines for a favorable new year, good crops. Besides, there are traditional sports competitions, folk games such as “nem con”, balancing, tug of war … attracting a large number of people to participate and cheer, creating a joyful and excited atmosphere, bustling on the first day of the new spring.
Ploughing Competition
2. Den Thuong Festival (Thuong Temple Festival)
Thuong Temple Festival is an important cultural event, a national intangible cultural heritage; through which it aims to honor the national hero Hung Dao Dai Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan; is an opportunity to meet and honor the values, cultural identities of ethnic groups in Lao Cai, attracting a lot of attention from people and tourists to participate in the festival.
During 3 days, from February 10 – 12, 2025, many activities of the Thuong Temple Festival in 2025 will be held at the Thuong Temple Relic Complex, Lao Cai Ward, Lao Cai City.
Incense offering ceremony
The opening ceremony starts from February 12, 2025 at the main stage of the Festival with an epic performance, drumming to open the festival, lion and dragon dances, singing and dancing performances followed by the Incense Offering Ceremony at the Thuong Temple yard.
Many cultural activities will be held at the festival.
In addition, entertainment activities attract tourists such as: Thuong Temple Festival Cup Golf Tournament; Competition of 7 ethnic sports and folk games; Exchange of folk arts and poetry; Hau Dong (also Len Dong is one of the main rituals of Dao Mau, and exemplifies the worship of mother goddesses in Vietnam. During these rituals, the mediums go into trances so their bodies can receive the spirits of various deities); Lighting fire and dancing; Organizing food stalls, …
Bich Ngoc
About the Author Sapa Tourism Office
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