Xip Xi - the White Thai festival of love and gratitude

After the farming season ends and fieldwork eases, White Thai communities in Phu Yen prepare for Xip Xi, one of their long-standing traditional festivals.

Held on the 14th day of the seventh lunar month, Xip Xi is also known as the Children’s New Year. Behind the celebration lies a simple story about compassion and the way one generation learns to care for another.

According to a traditional account passed down through the community, adults once stayed home at this time of year to mark the end of the farming season, prepare a feast and hold rituals, while children were sent into the forest to tend the buffalo.

Feeling left out, the children reportedly became upset and tied up their buffalo calves, thinking that if they were not allowed to enjoy the festival, the animals should not enjoy it either.

The adults later recognised the unfairness of what had happened and agreed to make the 14th day of the seventh lunar month a special occasion to both mark the end of the harvest and celebrate with children.

Over generations, Xip Xi has thus grown into a distinctive tradition in which children are placed at the heart of the community’s care and attention.

From a harvest tradition to a community celebration

This year, Phu Yen held Xip Xi on the 10th day of the seventh lunar month, four days earlier than the customary date.

The festivities opened with a ceremonial procession carrying offerings from the Ao Bua area to Chu Dinh communal house. Elaborately prepared offerings, local produce, images of children tending buffalo and objects associated with farming helped recreate the traditional cultural setting of the festival.

The procession was followed by the Xip Xi worship ceremony, during which residents expressed gratitude for the buffalo as an important companion in agricultural work and offered prayers for favourable weather, good harvests, peace and prosperity for the community.

Above all, however, Xip Xi remains a festival centred on children. Cam Thi Lien, a resident of Chieng Village in Phu Yen, said she was happy to take part in traditional games and enjoy the White Thai community’s festive dishes.

“I hope these beautiful cultural traditions can reach neighbouring communes and visitors from near and far, so that more people can learn about the cultural heritage of Chieng Village and Phu Yen Commune,” Lien shared.

While the rituals are solemn, the festival atmosphere becomes lively during the celebrations, with traditional performances and folk games.

Traditional dances and folk songs, ethnic costume displays, rhythmic drum performances, gong playing and games such as ô ăn quan create a lively community space where residents and visitors can take part rather than simply watch.

Keeping tradition alive in modern life

Xip Xi is also becoming a way to introduce traditional cultural values to visitors in a more accessible way.

At the festival, residents and visitors can explore displays of One Commune Once Product (OCOP) items, local agricultural goods, woven handicrafts and traditional textiles, as well as try their hand at making bánh ít uôi, a traditional local cake.

A food competition featuring nine teams was another highlight. Dishes prepared from familiar ingredients and local produce were not only attractively presented but also introduced through their origins, meanings and cultural significance.

In this way, traditional dishes are more than items on a festive table. They also become part of a cultural story shared with younger generations and visitors.

Phan Ngoc Linh, chairman of the People’s Committee of Phu Yen Commune, shared the festival was organised both to create a joyful occasion for local residents and to preserve and promote the cultural values of the Thai community.

The commune plans to continue organising Xip Xi and other traditional celebrations, including the Moi Festival and the New Rice Festival, as part of efforts to promote the distinctive cultural heritage of local ethnic communities.

From a traditional story about children being left out after the harvest, Xip Xi has evolved into a festival with several layers of meaning: marking the end of the farming season, honouring the buffalo, expressing hopes for peace and prosperity, and above all reminding the community of the importance of caring for its children.

In modern life, keeping Xip Xi alive means more than preserving a traditional celebration. It also keeps alive the memories, customs and cultural identity of the White Thai community, values that become all the more precious as life around them changes.

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