Top 22 Unique Tet Customs of Vietnam's Ethnic Minorities

The Nung people celebrate Tet similarly to the Kinh people. The midnight feast on New Year's Eve is considered the most important, and it must include square glutinous rice cakes. What's special is that for several days before, the Nung people never wrap cakes on even days. They believe that even days are unlucky, and if they deliberately make cakes on those days, their fields are prone to landslides, and pests will damage the crops. On the morning of the first day of Tet, the Nung people cut red paper strips to paste on all the tools in the family and on each tree in the garden and livestock pens. They burn incense to pray for the spirits' protection for everything to go smoothly in the new year.

A must-have dish on the traditional Tet feast of the Nung people is roasted male chicken. The chicken used for roasting must be raised months before Tet, and the Nung only feed them rice. On the morning of the first day of Tet, the son-in-law of the family must bring two roasted male chickens to the parents-in-law's house. Additionally, 'banh khot' and five-colored sticky rice are also indispensable dishes on the Tet feast of the Nung people. Five-colored sticky rice is meticulously prepared with five colors: red, yellow, white, purple, and green, each carrying different meanings. Not only do they have interesting Tet customs, but the Nung people also have some very fun games like ball throwing and cock fighting,

The Dao ethnic group celebrates Tet in the first lunar month, marking the beginning of a new year with favorable weather and abundant harvests. Before the festival, the Dao people usually prepare an altar made of four wooden panels surrounded by bamboo. Inside the altar are three large round bamboo tubes, symbolizing the heavens, earth, and humans. Within these tubes are money, gold, and silver. During the festival, four young people dress in beautiful clothes and offer ritual offerings such as boiled chicken, sticky rice cakes, sweets, and gold on their heads, approaching from four different directions. The shaman will loudly recite prayers for a new year filled with prosperity and harmony, and a bountiful harvest.

With the belief that the spring Tet days are for villagers to enjoy, visit, and wish each other a prosperous new year, the Dao people have introduced the Tet Jumping tradition to express their wishes fully. Not only does Tet Jumping bring a new year full of vitality, but it also helps the Dao people to train their bodies to be strong and resilient in preparation for the upcoming new agricultural season. Participants in Tet Jumping will fully engage regardless of day or night; those who are exhausted will rest to recover and continue the fun. Each Tet Jumping event features hundreds of different dances to the sound of gongs and drums, heralding the arrival of spring.

On the first day of the new year, all Dao people in the villages will gather at a predetermined location to perform traditional ceremonies. Immediately after, people of all ages will parade through the houses amid the sounds of drums, gongs, and loud horns. Wherever they go, they try to steal something from both sides. The Dao people believe that the more they steal, the luckier they will be that year. Conversely, if caught by the homeowners during the act, they will be punished by drinking alcohol, and the entire year will be considered unlucky. Because this tradition is not materially burdensome, the Dao people usually steal symbolic items such as vegetables, meat, eggs, etc., from the kitchen. At the end of the day, the 'thieves' will return their loot to the families to receive rewards.

The tradition of celebrating Tet among the Lô Lô ethnic group is simple yet uniquely interesting. Starting from the 28th to the 29th of the lunar month, all family members clean their houses together, sweep the crossroads, and intersections. They believe that doing so will remove any misfortune from the past year and welcome the new year with more luck and happiness. On the evening of the 30th, the Lô Lô people gather for a warm family dinner. The head of the household organizes a ceremony to pray for health and luck for all family members and invites the spirits of the deceased to join.

As the first rooster crows on New Year's Eve, the heads of Lô Lô households send a member to wake up the livestock so they can celebrate Tet together. At this time, a solemn ceremony takes place where men are offered roosters and women are offered hens to pray for health and prosperity for the family in the new year. One member of the family is chosen to fetch water, while others attend to feeding the livestock. The Lô Lô believe that the sounds of the animals contribute to the lively atmosphere of welcoming the new year.

The Thái people believe that the most beautiful girls have fair skin and high, neatly tied hair (called 'tằng cẩu') atop their heads. The young women of the White Thai ethnic group in Sơn La, Lai Châu, Điện Biên... on the last day of the year often gather by the stream to wash their hair. Previously, the older women used rice water for washing. Now, women of the White Thai ethnic group gather at the stream to wash their hair ceremonially. In the early misty morning, they dress up and head to the stream.

For the Thái people, the hair-washing ceremony holds great significance. When the hair of mothers, sisters, and daughters is clean and shiny, it signifies letting go of the misfortunes of the past year, leaving only luck and peace for the new year. The hair-washing ceremony concludes with a boat racing competition between men and women. There are also activities like throwing a shuttlecock and dancing in circles, allowing young men and women to enjoy themselves to the fullest.

In addition, the White Thai people also hold the fascinating Xíp Xí Tet festival. Xíp Xí Tet is usually held on the 14th of July every year according to the lunar calendar. This day is for the descendants in White Thai families to express gratitude to their ancestors, while also showing love to the next generations of parents, grandparents, etc. During Xíp Xí Tet, children will be given parcels of sticky rice, meat, and cakes to take with them when herding buffaloes or to buy new clothes.

5. Nen Buon Tien Tet of the Thai people in Son La, Lai Chau

The Thai people in Son La and Lai Chau celebrate Tet almost throughout the entire season, known as Tet season. First is Soong Sip Tet (New Rice Tet) after the rice in the fields turns golden, they slaughter buffalo, pig, and use newly harvested rice to offer rituals. Every household organizes joyful feasts. After Soong Sip Tet comes Kim Lao Mao Tet (wine-drinking Tet), Kitchen God Tet, and the biggest one is Nen Buon Tien Tet (Lunar New Year Tet). On the eve of Nen Buon Tien Tet, adults sit around the warm kitchen fire to welcome the crucial moment, the transition from the old year to the new one.

Meanwhile, young men and women, amidst the sound of gongs and melodious singing, eagerly await the clock striking 12 to go fetch lucky water. The custom of fetching lucky water among the Thai people has been passed down for generations. Water fetching must be done before the rooster crows at 1 a.m. If the water is fetched after the rooster crows, it loses its significance. The water to be fetched is from a stream, but if someone can fetch water from the source of the stream, it is even cooler and purer.

The Thai people believe that fetching water from the source to drink and wash their faces in the first moments of the new year will make them as pure as the stream water, and throughout that year, they and their families will remain healthy and encounter much luck. On the first day of the year, they don't forget to carry knives and machetes, shining to bring brightness to the new year. The most enjoyable are the famous Thai Xoe festivals, where people have fun until the full moon of the new year.

6. The Hà Nhì ethnic group practices pig liver fortune telling

The Hà Nhì people are among the ethnic groups who celebrate Tet earlier than the common schedule of traditional Vietnamese Tet. The Hà Nhì people do not have a specific Tet feast day like other ethnic groups. Instead, the village elders will discuss and agree on a specific Tet feast day for the villagers. The leaders must consider natural factors such as weather, climate, harvest season, and the economic conditions of the villagers to choose a specific day that meets all these conditions.

The Hà Nhì people have many interesting customs, clearly showing their unique characteristics compared to those of other ethnic groups. In addition to the practice of pig liver fortune telling, the Hà Nhì people also have to prepare special cakes to offer to their ancestors. On the Tet day of the Hà Nhì people, offering pork to the ancestors is a compulsory ritual that every family must perform. Regardless of wealth, on Tet day, every family slaughters pigs to welcome the new year.

These are male pigs, castrated earlier in the year for fattening by the households themselves. Families with means slaughter pigs weighing from 60-100kg, or even 150kg, while poorer families slaughter pigs weighing 40-50kg. When slaughtering pigs for Tet, the liver is a particularly important part for Hà Nhì people, similar to how the Kinh people often look at chicken feet during Tet. The Hà Nhì people examine the pig liver carefully; if it is healthy, with vibrant color, and the gallbladder is full, then that year the husbandry will prosper, and the siblings and descendants will be happy and harmonious.

7. The tradition of calling buffaloes home for Tet feasts among the Muong people

The Muong ethnic group has Tet customs quite similar to those of the Kinh people. However, the Muong people also have their own unique customs and traditions. One of the distinctive traditional customs of the Muong people is the 'sac bua' singing ritual. 'Sac bua' is a way of singing New Year's greetings in the style of the Muong ethnic group. On the first and second days of Tet, Muong ethnic children gather to play gongs and sing 'sac bua.'

Like other ethnic minorities living together with the Muong people, they consider the rituals of Tet as the most important and significant ceremonies of the year, including the tradition of calling buffaloes home for Tet feasts. To them, buffaloes are like family members and are important livestock, closely related to their agricultural life. The buffalo or the plow also needs a Tet break after a hard year's work in the fields. In the days before Tet, they prepare buffalo horns. After midnight on New Year's Eve, Muong children carry torches and buffalo horns, walking around the alleys a few times. They stop and pretend to count '1, 2, 3, 4...' then declare, 'My family's buffaloes are all here.'

Although just symbolic rituals, the children find them very exciting. Along with this ritual, the Muong people also hang cylindrical cakes on agricultural tools such as plows, hoes, and carrying poles to invite these 'companion friends' home for Tet with the family. Then, family members go to the stream to fetch water to light incense for the ancestors before pouring it into the rice pot. The Muong people believe that the sacred water taken on New Year's Eve will bring luck, and the family will prosper in the new year.

8. Thai People and the Tradition of Calling Spirits and Seeking Lucky Water

Calling spirits is a unique and distinctive cultural practice of the Thai ethnic group. Typically, on the 30th night of Tet, each Thai family prepares two chickens, one for ancestral worship and the other to call the spirits of deceased relatives. The clothes of the deceased family members will be tightly bound and draped over the shoulders of the ritual master, who will then go to the head of the village to call the spirits with a burning stick in hand. The spirit-calling ritual is repeated 2-3 times, and each family member will have a black thread tied to their hand by the ritual master to ward off evil spirits. The new year is counted from the end of the harvest season with the first thunderclap. When the thunder sounds, the head of the family will awaken other members and touch each object with the intention of awakening them for a more efficient new year's work. Based on the thunder's sound, the village elders will make predictions about the coming year; the louder and more rumbling the thunder, the more abundant the harvest, and everyone will be warm and full.

The Thai people in Son La and Lai Chau celebrate Tet almost throughout the season, known as the Tet season, with the biggest celebration being Tet Nen Buon Tien (Lunar New Year). On the eve of Tet Nen Buon Tien, adults gather around a warm fireplace to welcome the important moment, the transition from the old year to the new. Meanwhile, young men and women, along with the sounds of gongs and melodious singing, eagerly await the stroke of midnight to fetch lucky water. The tradition of fetching lucky water among the Thai people has been passed down through generations.

Lucky water must be fetched before the rooster crows at 1 a.m. If the water is fetched after the rooster crows, it loses its significance. The water to be fetched is from a stream, and if someone can fetch water from the source of the stream, it will be even cooler and purer. The Thai people believe that fetching water from the source of the stream to drink and wash their faces in the first moments of the new year will purify them like the source of the stream, and throughout the year, they and their families will remain healthy and encounter much good fortune. On the first day of the year, they do not forget to carry knives and sickles, flashing them as they walk outside to usher in the new year. The most joyous events are the famous Thai Xoe festivals, where people can enjoy themselves until the full moon of the new year.

The Tay ethnic group currently numbers nearly 1.5 million people, mainly residing in provinces such as Cao Bang, Lang Son, Tuyen Quang, Ha Giang, Bac Kan, Thai Nguyen, Yen Bai, Lao Cai, and Quang Ninh. The Tet celebration of the Tay ethnic group begins on the 30th and ends (with the ancestral worship ceremony) around the morning of the third day. On the seventh day, they go to the fields, but it's mostly symbolic. By the 15th day, they celebrate Tet again, similar to the full moon celebration of the Kinh people, but the Tay people call it Tet Again. On the 27th or 28th, families have slaughtered pigs and wrapped Chung cakes. The ancestral altar is cleaned, and four sugarcane sticks are tied to the four corners of the altar, symbolizing sticks to support the ancestors. On the 30th night, while receiving guests, women in the house prepare roasted rice, lam tea, and baked cakes.

Unlike the Thai people, the Tay people avoid inviting people into their homes on the first day. They choose to invite house visitors who are morally righteous in the village, those with great fortunes, especially those in mourning... Tay men visit their fathers on the first day and their ritual masters on the third day. Some games are also organized during Tet, with the most popular being con throwing. During the Lunar New Year, the Tay people also have the tradition of going down to the field. On Tet occasions, people wear their finest clothes when going out. The colors of Tay clothes are quite subdued. Women wear five-piece long robes, with one short and four long pieces, narrow sleeves, and a belt of the same color tied around the waist, with the end trailing behind, and wear square scarves with embroidery. Inside, there is black or colored hair wrapped in fabric, with embroidered chicken beak-shaped patterns on the hem.

In the spring, at the beginning of the new rice crop, people in Phuoc Son, Giang, and Hien districts in Quang Nam organize the Prơ-giê-râm Tet celebration. This is the biggest festival of the year. During this Tet, every household is beautifully decorated. Various musical instruments like ghẻ, bows, spears, clappers, flutes, drums, and gongs are thoroughly cleaned. The Co Tu people usually celebrate Tet right after the harvest season ends. A week before Tet, people gather to catch fish in the big rivers. Unlike other places where fish are caught using nets or fishing rods, people here use fruits, tree bark, and roots soaked in water.

In Gươi's house, they erect a buffalo pole made of decorated rice stems, painted beautifully. Many cultural activities take place at Gươi's house such as storytelling, dancing, and singing folk songs. Girls have the opportunity to exchange feelings and invite each other to extend the spring festivities for a whole month. The Prơ-giê-râm Tet celebration activities showcase the unique cultural identity of the Co Tu ethnic group, providing a time for rest and reflection on a year of abundance or misfortune, health or natural disasters, epidemics...

During the Prơ-giê-râm Tet days, the Co Tu people usually eat dishes handmade by villagers from glutinous rice, cassava, corn,... One of the characteristics of the Co Tu people is their famous cane wine and leaf-wrapped wine, which are two well-known types of wine. The horn-shaped cake is also one of the indispensable dishes in the Co Tu people's Tet cuisine, not only for family consumption but also for entertaining guests. Additionally, an interesting dish that visitors to Co Tu ethnic families must try once is Za zá - a traditional dish of the ethnic group.

Chicken Feather Festival is a unique traditional celebration that encapsulates the positive cultural elements associated with the Cống people in Dien Bien, reflecting vividly their lifestyle and ethnic identity. Like other neighboring ethnic groups in the region, the Cống people mainly cultivate on terraced fields and wet rice paddies, with one main crop per year, and also grow various vegetables along riverbanks and streams to support festivities, rituals, and daily life.

Alongside material life, the Cống people also have a rich spiritual life expressed through clothing, customs, and festivals (Chicken Feather Festival, village worship, Ancestor worship, wedding ceremonies, housewarming parties, elder respect ceremonies, Ngoc Hoang gratitude ceremonies...), among which the Chicken Feather Festival is the most unique as it is a traditional Tet ceremony of the Cống people. The rituals during the Chicken Feather Festival, besides the sacred aspect, also involve the participation of folk performance art elements, attracting the entire community to reconnect with their ancestral roots.

The Chicken Feather Festival is also an occasion for villagers to express gratitude to the deities, guardian spirits, and local deities where people live, who have blessed them with health and abundant harvests throughout the year, while also seeking blessings for the new year. The Chicken Feather Festival, from generation to generation, remains an indispensable spiritual need in the spiritual life of every Cống ethnic community during every New Year celebration.

The Xơ Đăng people in Kontum celebrate Tet in a simple manner, with only two main festivals: the Droplet Festival and the Fire Festival. The Droplet Festival takes place around March in the Gregorian calendar. After the harvest season, the Xơ Đăng people begin to repair the water channels and organize a ceremony called 'offering to the channels' to pray to the Water Deity (Yang Dak) for a prosperous new year with abundant water and crops. These water channels are tools that the Xơ Đăng people use to lead clean water from streams to their family reservoirs. These channels are usually made of bamboo. Every family has a scoop to collect water from these channels.

After collecting water, the Xơ Đăng people will hold a grand feast that lasts for several days. During the Droplet Festival, people in the village bring ladles and bronze pots to the water channels to collect water to bring home, while also organizing feasts and celebrations for several consecutive days. The ceremony 'offering to the water channels' for the entire village is held at the Rong house and conducted by the ritual master.

Unlike the Droplet Festival, which is held after the end of the harvest season, the Fire Festival takes place when preparing for the new crop season. During this occasion, the Xơ Đăng people hold a festival to pray to the Fire Deity for blessings on the fertile land and a bountiful harvest. The Xơ Đăng people have a tradition of planting trees on mountain slopes rather than on large pieces of land or terraced fields. They have a very special method of cultivation. They burn various types of trees to obtain land for cultivation and use the ash as fertilizer.

In the culture of the K'ho people, a year is not determined by a specific number of days like most other ethnic groups. A new year for the K'ho people begins when the harvest season is over, and the rice is stored in every family's granary. This moment is the occasion for the K'ho people to celebrate Tet. The K'ho Tet, also known as the festival to thank the rice deity and other deities for blessing the village with a bountiful harvest and favorable weather throughout the year.

The K'ho people mainly reside in Lam Dong. They celebrate Tet after the Lunar New Year of the Kinh people, which lasts about a month, known as the Nhô LirBông Festival (welcoming rice home). This Tet typically lasts for the whole month. The rice offering ceremony is usually held at each family's rice barn and starts in the afternoon with the participation of the village elders and many other homeowners. Blood from chickens is smeared on the rice barn floor, large doors, and windows. After the ceremony ends within the family, the K'ho people visit each other's houses to eat, sing, and dance together.

The K'ho people believe that all aspects of life are determined by supernatural forces. Their belief in the supernatural has a polytheistic nature...The deities (yàng) are the forces that protect humans. The supreme deity is Nđu, and there are other deities such as the Sun God, Moon God, Mountain God, River God, Earth God, Rice God...They often make offerings during significant events or occurrences (filial piety, stages in production, illness...).

An unique aspect in the altar of the Pà Thẻn people is the presence of a basin of cold water always kept full and tightly covered for worship throughout the year. If the water diminishes, it must be replenished only in June by the head of the household. On New Year's Eve, all doors in the house are tightly shut and all openings are sealed, then the homeowner will use water from that basin to thoroughly cleanse and replace it with fresh water to welcome the new year. All actions are carried out in secrecy, and if inadvertently disclosed, the entire family will face misfortune and bad luck in the coming year.

In addition to the custom of worshiping the basin of cold water, the Pà Thẻn people also have a unique fire dance festival. This festival is usually held at the end of the year from October to December to demonstrate the spirit of confronting dangers and driving away diseases. After the shaman of the Pà Thẻn ethnic group announces the official reason for organizing the fire dance festival and invites the deities in their beliefs to attend the ceremony with the people, participants in the festival will jump into the fire pit.

When participating in the fire dance festival, some Pà Thẻn people do not hesitate to go barefoot and jump onto the burning firewood. Sometimes participants in the fire dance festival even take burning coals and put them in their mouths. Those chosen to participate in the fire dance must be people of good moral character. A highly mysterious aspect is that none of the participants in the fire dance festival suffer burns. The fire dance festival receives enthusiastic responses from the villagers.

The Cao Lan people meticulously prepare for Tet, as it is seen as an opportunity for everyone to rest and enjoy themselves after a year of hard work. During Tet, all families gather around red fires, sharing their difficulties and hopes for a prosperous new year. The Cao Lan people welcome Tet with a vibrant atmosphere filled with red hues.

In some places in the homes of Cao Lan people like doorways, entrances, livestock pens... red paper is pasted two days before Tet. With the bright red color, this tradition of the Cao Lan people hopes for luck, happiness, and many good things in the coming year, a year filled with wealth, peace, and prosperity. Furthermore, according to the tradition of the Cao Lan people, the first day of the new year involves visiting relatives, while the second day is for visiting close neighbors.

One of the most interesting things about Tet for the Cao Lan people is the 'vắt vai' cake. During Tet, every Cao Lan family must prepare the 'vắt vai' cake, a type of cake made from familiar ingredients such as banana leaves, glutinous rice, mung beans, and sugar. The Cao Lan people often visit relatives and bring many items as gifts. To carry many items over a long distance, they often carry these cakes on their shoulders. Thus, the 'vắt vai' cakes with their interesting name came into being.

The 'Bỏ Mả' Tet of the Gia Rai ethnic group resembles the tomb sweeping tradition of the Kinh people during the Qingming Festival but on a much larger scale. Compared to seasonal festivals, health celebrations, or buffalo stabbing festivals, the 'Bỏ Mả' Tet is the biggest celebration for the Gia Rai people. Village elders and leaders will preside over and perform the tomb worship rituals. They represent the villagers to wish for a peaceful new year, a bountiful harvest, and prosperous lives for the descendants throughout the year.

The spring festival of the Gia Rai people is called Ning Nơng, where there's a unique custom of celebrating Tet with the deceased. The Gia Rai people particularly honor the deceased, so when a family or lineage loses a loved one, they will build elaborate tomb houses for worship. Next to the tomb area, there is often a wooden house called the 'wine-drinking house' - where village elders and young men gather to enjoy wine and food. Cooking for the feast is also done nearby, and bonfires are lit in the middle of the tomb area.

The Gia Rai people do not set a fixed date for their Tet celebration but choose the first lunar month, typically around April. Depending on the geography and climate of each region, the Gia Rai people in different places will organize Tet on different days. Additionally, Tet for the Gia Rai people can also be organized on a day determined by each family's preference.

The Phu La people in Lao Cai celebrate Tet over 3 days from the 1st to the 3rd day of the first lunar month, but the festive activities often extend until the 15th day before transitioning to work for a new crop season. To prepare for Tet from the 12th lunar month, the community has been gathering firewood, stocking vegetables, drying fish, brewing alcohol, and finding dong leaves to wrap Chung cakes. Apart from Chung cakes and cylindrical sticky rice cakes, the Phu La people also enjoy various unique dishes during Tet.

On the 30th of Tet, each family of the Phu La people usually goes to the forest to collect a bamboo branch for cleaning the house and placing it on the ancestral altar, with the hope of sweeping away all the bad things from the old year and welcoming a new year of peace and abundance. On the 1st day of Tet, everyone wears their newest and most beautiful outfits, visits and extends Tet wishes to parents, grandparents, relatives, and neighbors. Amidst the sounds of gongs, melodies, and lively singing, the elderly gather around wine cups while youths and children immerse themselves in traditional games like swinging, shuttlecock kicking, hide-and-seek, wrestling, and bamboo ball kicking.

The Tet customs of the Phu La ethnic group deeply embody the traditional cultural values of the Vietnamese people through ancestor worship. It is a distinctive cultural feature reflecting the profound philosophy of respecting origins and the enduring belief in eternal life even after death. Moreover, it is an opportunity for future generations to remember the gratitude of previous generations, cherish, and preserve the beautiful customs and traditions of their ethnic group.

The Pu Péo ethnic group follows the calendar of the Chu dynasty of China. According to the Chu calendar, a cycle consists of 12 years and a year has 12 months. Twenty-nine or thirty days. And 12 hours make up a day. Similar to the lunar calendar of our country today, every three years has a leap year. This is why the Pu Péo people also celebrate the Lunar New Year like some other ethnic minorities in Vietnam. The Pu Péo ethnic group has its own language and customs, so if you have the opportunity to visit the Pu Péo ethnic group during Tet, you will have a wonderful experience.

Exactly at the moment of New Year's Eve, the Pu Péo people will watch several roosters to choose the right moment when they flap their wings and prepare to crow, then they will light a firecracker and throw it into the coop to startle the roosters, causing them to crow loudly. At this moment, people will shout together to drown out the sound of the crowing roosters. With the belief that the crowing of the rooster has sacred and joyful significance, whoever overwhelms the sound of the rooster will encounter luck and blessings in the coming year.

The New Rice Eating Ceremony of the Xá Phó people also takes place over three main days like in the traditional Tet celebration nationwide. On the first day, the eldest person in the house must erect a small platform on the roof, arrange three small bowls of wine, six pairs of chopsticks, a boiled egg, three pieces of white cloth, and a handful of rice, then make offerings to the rice deity before going alone to harvest some new rice to offer to the ancestors. Before returning, the harvester will stick a climbing gourd to prevent strangers from entering.

On the second day of the new rice eating ceremony, it's no longer just one person harvesting but both the husband and wife of the household go to the fields to cut rice, but they are not allowed to speak to each other, and each person must harvest 15 bundles of rice to offer. On the third day, the whole family goes to harvest together, still in silence. Only when the rice is harvested and the host raises the climbing gourd can everyone speak freely. After three main days of the ceremony, the host will prepare rice to treat everyone to mark the conclusion of the New Rice Eating Ceremony of the family. At this point, the new rice eating festival of the Xá Phó people is considered finished.

The New Rice Eating Ceremony is one of the traditional customs deeply imbued with the distinctive cultural characteristics of the Xá Phó ethnic group. This is a time when all family members pause all work to show gratitude to those who came before in the family. Furthermore, it is also a time to express sincere respect to the heavens and the earth for a year of favorable weather, healthy and happy families, and to pray for a better new year.

The Giẻ Triêng people have many interesting customs, including the tradition of smearing ash, throwing sticky rice onto the roof, and carrying charcoal home. The Cha Kchah Festival, also known as the charcoal-eating festival of the Giẻ Triêng people, has been preserved through many generations. Cha Kchah Festival is not only a festival to summarize a harvest season, a year of harvest, but also an occasion for the Giẻ Triêng people to celebrate, give thanks, and express their gratitude to the spirits who have protected the village from sickness, diseases, ensuring a warm, happy life.

Organizing the Cha Kchah Festival is also a time for the Giẻ Triêng people to prepare tools for the next production season with hopes and aspirations for a better year than the previous one. The Cha Kchah Festival of the Giẻ Triêng people is usually held from the 21st to the 27th of December each year. Organizing the Cha Kchah festival successfully is not simple. Those selected to participate in the festival must meet certain criteria. The council will select seven members with good health to be able to go to the forest to burn charcoal and carry it back to the village.

The forest trees will be carefully selected to make good charcoal. To bring the burnt charcoal home, the seven members must carry the charcoal bundle from the forest to the village. The villagers will beat gongs, drums to welcome the seven people carrying charcoal home. Every 26th, 27th of December each year, the robust young men of the Giẻ Triêng will go to the forest to cut firewood to burn and bring charcoal home. Those remaining at home will prepare to cook sticky rice and hold onto dry branches, then burn them into charcoal. This charcoal will be gathered and thrown up high, people will gather below to catch as much ash as possible, believing that the more ash caught on Tet day, the luckier and happier they will be in the coming year.

The tradition of marriage proposal marks the arrival of Tet and spring in the Central Highlands, including the Churu ethnic group. The Churu people follow a one-wife-one-husband system, with men typically living with their wives' families, and children taking their mother's surname. Women take the initiative in marriage matters. When a girl finds a man she likes, she informs her family. If approved, someone from her family will visit the man's family to propose.

If the man's family accepts the proposal, the woman's family will give gifts to the man's family and perform the ceremony of putting an engagement ring on the man's finger. On a beautiful night, Churu girls will put the engagement ring on the man's finger and proceed with the marriage proposal ceremony. The ceremony takes place at night. If the man disagrees, he will return the ring after 7 days. The girl will persistently give the ring to the man on a clear moonlit night until he is satisfied.

On the 25th and 26th days of the 12th month in the lunar calendar, the H'mong people start their Tet holiday. On the evening of the 30th, they begin the ancestral worship ceremony with pigs and chickens. Traditionally, they don't make square glutinous rice cakes like other ethnic groups, but they prepare meat, wine, and corn cakes for Tet. On the 20th day of Tet, they also honor their ancestors with dishes made from pork and chicken. After the ceremony, families gather to enjoy the Tet feast, known as 'year-end rice' in the Kinh ethnic group, until the first rooster crow.

From the first day of Tet onwards, they wear new clothes and shoes. Mentioning Tet of H'mong people without the Sai San Festival, also known as the Gau Tao Festival, is impossible. The festival is held to show respect, pray for a fruitful harvest, abundant livestock, and the happiness of children. If a H'mong family member is sick or the harvest is poor, they may invite a shaman to organize the Gau Tao Festival to seek luck and better health.

Moreover, during H'mong Tet, there's a tradition of butt patting to express affection. This is a unique way of expressing love among young H'mong people. During Tet, young men and women gather under the mountain to celebrate and watch the festival. If a young man secretly likes a girl, he will pat her butt as a signal. The girl will quickly understand the guy's sincerity, and the two will hold hands and find a private place to spend the night together, expressing the long-contained feelings.