Khai Ha festival of Muòng minoriry in 2024 was held with many activities rich in identity.
Khai Ha Festival is associated with the production of the wet rice agriculture, bearing many traces of the ancient Vietnamese civilization; it is an indispensable cultural and religious activity of Muong people in Hoa Binh province. The festival has the meaning of respecting the gods, remembering those who have contributed to opening the land, establishing Muong areas, and praying for the favorable development of all things, good harvests, prosperous life, happiness, and good things for everybody, every home. The festival is usually held in every January with many unique rituals, creating a unique feature of the festival. Depending on each Muong region, the time and location of the festival are different. Khai Ha festival of Muong Vang (Lac Son) is held on the 4th day of the first lunar month according to Muong Vang calendar at Ang Ka temple and a number of other locations; Khai Ha ceremony of Muong Thang (Cao Phong) is held on the 6th of the first lunar month according to the Muong Thang calendar at Ca temple; Khai Ha fesstival of Muong Dong (Kim Boi) is held on the 3rd day of the 5th lunar month, which is the 4th day of the 4th month according to Muong Dong calendar at Muong Chanh temple. In Tan Lac district, Khai Ha festival is held on the 7th and 8th of the first lunar month, which is the 6th and 7th of the seventh month according to Muong Bi calendar. The festival is a community-based cultural and religious activity, associated with the legend of Quoc Mau Hoang Ba, the mother of Thanh Tan, the person who taught the people of Muong Bi how to farm and how to live; Tan Vien Son Thanh, the son-in-law of the 18th Hung Vuong King, who had merit in helping the King fight against the foreign invaders, bringing the peace to the people; Ai Ly and Ai Lo, the two gods taught the people of Muong Bi how to dig irrigation ditches for agriculture... After more than 20 years of restoring and maintaining the organization, the festival contributes to promoting the potential and strengths about the local tourism to a large number of tourists inside and outside the province.
In 2024, implementing the policy of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Khai Ha festival of Muong ethnic minority continues to be held on the provincial scale in Luy Ai hamlet, Phong Phu commune (Tan Lac). The festival takes place for 3 days, from February 15 - 17 (i.e. the 6th, 7th, 8th of January in the year of Dragon). On January 6 and 7, the weather was warm and sunny, a large number of people in Muong Bi and other Muong regions in the province gathered at Phong Phu commune’s stadium to watch the sports competitions of crossbow shooting, tug of war, and stick pushing. There are local cultural camps in the communes and the town. This is also one of the new highlights of this year's Khai Ha festival, the communes and the town set up camps based on the model of the stilt houses and floating houses with the local characteristics, and at the same time they decorate and display the items and the handicrafts vividly recreating the cultural space of Muong stilt houses. On January 8, the sunny weather was favorable for organizing the main activities of Khai Ha fesstival with the ceremony and festival. The ceremony performed the rituals of worshiping the land, Thanh Hoang, the procession of the Ma Hoang Ba's palanquin along with a special welcoming art program and the performance of Muong gongs by 500 artisans echoing throughout the mountains and forests of Muong Bi, encouraging the participation of a large number of people and tourists.
After the early spring plowing ceremony at Bua Trung, the delegates and tourists joined the festival with many attractive activities such as the traditional weaving demonstrations, the folk games of stilt walking, cotton ball throwing, and swinging... A special festival with the competitions showing Muong ethnic costumes; displaying the cultural and culinary camps; competing in the national sports and competing for the Volleyball Cup at Khai Ha festival in 2024; The traditional weaving competition (chicken cage weaving, egg basket weaving), Doi singing. Besides, there are activities of Am and Xec Bua performing, ethnic brocade weaving, making cakes, Lam rice, the folk games of Mang fighting, capturing flags, blindfolded drumming, stilt walking, swinging, and bridge. seesawing, cotton ball throwing... At the festival there were also the booths displaying the agricultural products, handicrafts, OCOP products, culture, tourism... of the localities in the province and the consulting and introducing jobs.
With a group of friends attending Khai Ha Festival of Muong ethnic group in the province, Ms. Le Thu Trang, a tourist from Ha Dong district, Hanoi city, sayys: In the early spring, my group of friends and I often invite each other to attend the festivals and destinations of spirituality to pray for fortune and for wealth. This year is the first time I have participated in Khai Ha festival of Muong people, I found that it is a large festival, organized on a large scale with many attractive activities. I am most impressed with Muong gong performance with the participation of many artists and the unique sound...
Mr. Bui Van Tinh, the Chairman of Tan Lac District’s People's Committee, the Head of the Festival Organizing Committee affirms: Through the process of development and ups and downs of the history, Khai Ha Festival has been deeply imprinted in the cultural and spiritual life of Muong community in Hoa Binh. The people have still been conserving and preserving many traditional values, and it is a place of crystallization and convergence of the cultural and historical heritage, attracting a large number of the local people and tourists each festival season. The fact that Khai Ha Festival of Muong people is included in the list of the national intangible cultural heritage, decided to be the province's annual traditional festival by the province, has met the wishes of the people of all ethnic groups in the region in province, contributing to educating the patriotic traditions and the national pride so that the culture is truly the source and the driving force for the sustainable development of the province. This is also a practical activity to implement the Project preserving and promoting the cultural values of Muong ethnic group and "Hoa Binh Culture” for the period of 2023 - 2030 in Hoa Binh province.
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