Spring festival to honour national ethnic cultures
A spring festival will be held at the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism in Hanoi on February 24-25 to promote the rich and diverse cultures of ethnic groups across the country and strengthen national unity.
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| Spring festival 2017 at the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism in Hanoi (Photo: http://dantri.com.vn) |
The event will feature a wide range of activities, with a highlight being the re-enactment of the Gau Tao festival of Mong ethnic people and wedding ceremony of Bo Y ethnic inhabitants in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang.
Gau Tao, held to thank gods for granting good health to families and villages, is one of the largest traditional festivals of Mong ethnic people. It combines almost all types of folk cultural activities of the group and has been recognised as part of the national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Meanwhile, the Bo Y ethnic minority group has managed to preserve their traditional culture from costumes and house architecture to wedding and funeral customs despite a small population. In the past, Bo Y people could only get married to those from the same ethnic group. But now, men and women are able to choose their partners from different ethnic groups. The wedding ceremony is usually organized in spring to pray for happiness and procreation.
Another major activity will be a praying ceremony where monks from Khmer pagodas will pray for peace and blessing.
People from Thai ethnic group in the northern province of Son La will host a folk game namely ‘tung con’ (throwing a ball through the ring).
