The Ha Nhi ethnic group in Vietnam has a population of 17,000, living mostly in the northern mountainous provinces of Dien Bien, Lai Chau and Lao Cai. Ha Nhi is one of a few ethnic groups in Vietnam which celebrates both the Kinh's traditional Lunar New Year Festival and their own festivals, which are scattered throughout the year.

Ha Nhi ethnic people have their own unique cultural identity and traditions. They are very proud of their ruong bac thang (terraced rice fields), where rice is grown on land forming a staircase of terraces up the side of the hill. This system of rice cultivation has been carried out for generations and thought to be most predominant in northern Vietnam. Rice cultivation has a major influence on the way Ha Nhi people celebrate their New Year Festival.

Ethnologist Mai Thanh Son explained that Ha Nhi people previously used their own calendar which has 10 months. Now they also celebrate the Lunar New Year of the Kinh majority, but still preserve their own calendar's New Year. For Ha Nhi people, each month has its own time of festivity. For instance, the second month of the lunar calendar has an earth tilling or planting event, the sixth month has a crop worshipping event, and the 11^th month has a harvest event.  This is the time when the crop is completed and the wedding season for the Ha Nhi people begin.

During the three-day crop worshipping celebration in the sixth month of the lunar calendar, Ha Nhi people cook buffalo meat, offering it to their ancestors and sharing it with relatives and friends. Then a community ritual is held at the village square, which is a patch of land in the middle of the village. Each household contributes their own food to the ritual, which traditionally consists of buffalo meat, tea with ginger, alcohol and sticky rice cake.

The ritual honours the spirits and ancestors and is a time to pray for a bumper crop. Ethnologist Mai Thanh Son explained why the swing game is a must during celebrations of Ha Nhi people.

“Ha Nhi people believe that when they plough the earth, a great many worms and insects living in the soil are killed,” he said. “These creatures consequently sue Ha Nhi people for this crime, bringing it before God. God shares the sufferings of the worms and insects but also has empathy for the Ha Nhi farmers. God then showed the Ha Nhi people how to play the swing game during their festival. If the worms and insects see people playing the game, they think that God is punishing the Ha Nhi people and withdraw their complaint.”

The Ha Nhi people's swing game is played with a girl and a boy, who stand or sit on a long rope and swing back and forth. Besides the legend about the worm and insects, Ha Nhi people also believe that the swing game, which has elements of both Yin and Yang philosophies, will bring them success in reproduction and multiplication. If you visit northern Vietnam during Tet, look for the Ha Nhi's swing game. It may bring you a prosperous and a happy New Year.