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Held from August 17th to September 1st, the Golden Season Festival in Ban May at Sun World Fansipan Legend is a special event honoring the cultural values of ethnic minorities.
The Golden Season Festival in Ban May
The Golden Season Festival in Ban May is organized to celebrate the 79th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day on September 2nd. The festival will recreate traditional rituals and lifestyles of ethnic groups in Lao Cai. Ban May, located at the foot of Fansipan Mountain near the cable car station, will become a gathering place for various ethnic communities. The H’Mong, Xa Phó, Tày, Giáy, Red Dao, Thai, and Hà Nhì people will come together to celebrate, offering visitors a unique cultural experience of the golden season.
During the two-week festival, Ban May will be filled with the golden hues of ripe rice. The picturesque scenery of straw, corn, and rice fields will exude the fragrance and golden color symbolizing abundance. Notably, every weekend, a special festival of the local ethnic groups will be held. Visitors will have the opportunity to participate in traditional rituals, experience local lifestyles, and enjoy folk games.
On August 17th and 18th, the Golden Season Festival in Ban May will kick off with the Kho Gia Gia Festival. This is the largest and most ancient harvest festival of the Black Hà Nhì people. Held before the harvest season, the festival prays for divine blessings for a bountiful crop. Visitors will witness solemn rituals, expressing reverence to agricultural deities, forest spirits, water gods, earth spirits, and deities of love.
Then Kin Pang Festival
On the weekend of August 24th and 25th, the Then Kin Pang Festival of the White Thai people will take place. In the Thai language, “then” refers to fairies or celestial beings, “kin” means celebration, and “pang” signifies a festival. Then Kin Pang is a ritual where the Then master (a skilled shaman) performs ceremonies to honor their adopted children and gather them to express gratitude. The Then master conducts the ritual to pray to deities for a prosperous life.
Then Kin Pang is a spiritual performance ritual that combines music, dance, and acting. It also features the use of traditional instruments such as the tinh lute, xoc music, drums, gongs, and cymbals. The festival’s uniqueness is enhanced by the then singing, mang singing, and xao xen singing. It is also an occasion for young couples to express their affection.
New Rice Festival
The New Rice Festival in the Golden Season of Ban May holds special significance for ethnic minority communities. On August 31st and September 1st, visitors can experience an “early Tet.” The most important ritual is the welcoming of the new rice’s soul. Rooted in the belief that all things have spirits, the image of the rice plant has been sanctified in their consciousness.
During the festival, villagers head to the fields early in the morning to bring the soul of the new rice home. They carry the fruits of their labor and solemnly offer them to deities and ancestors. The offerings on the altar are rich and varied, including chicken, duck, pork, fish, and, most importantly, fragrant green and new sticky rice. In some places, the new rice is even crafted into round or flat cakes.
Various activities of the ethnic communities
In addition to the rituals, visitors can immerse themselves in the unique daily life of the village. Every corner of the village will be filled with activities such as pounding sticky rice cakes, making green rice, and preparing colorful sticky rice. Visitors can join in these experiences and savor the traditional dishes. You can also participate in folk games like stick pushing and single-rope swing. The Golden Season in Ban May truly offers a rich autumn cultural experience in Sapa.
According to Mytour.vn
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Reference: Travel guide by Mytour.vn
Mytour.vnAugust 16, 2024
