The Mong in Ha Giang celebrate their Gau Tao spring festival from the 3rd to the 6th day of the lunar New Year to thank the Jade Emperor and other deities for blessing them with health, happiness, prosperity, and bumper crops. Couples who cannot get pregnant attend the festival to pray for having children. “In the past the Gau Tao festival was hosted by married people who couldn’t have children. If they subsequently had children, they would organize another ceremony to thank the Jade Emperor and other deities and invite all the villagers to come share their happiness, and pray for the happiness of all people,” says Vang Chan Giao, a Mong man in Thanh Van commune. One week ahead of the festival, people erect a Neu pole in the middle of the village. The Neu pole, a tall bamboo pole decorated with red paper, is believed to chase away evils. “First, we choose a person to host the festival. Second, we pick a bamboo tree which is about 7 m tall. We plant the Neu pole in an open space and decorate the surrounding area to inform people of the festival," says Giao. "Before planting the Neu pole, a shaman conducts a ritual to thank Heaven and Earth and hangs a bottle of liquor and a sheaf of rice from the top of the Neu pole to represent prosperity and a red cloth to represent good luck,” he adds. The festival follows the Neu pole ceremony and worship of the deities. Young men compete to climb the Neu pole to retrieve the bottle of liquor, the rice, and the red cloth. Vang Minh The, a young man in Thanh Van commune, notes, “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s festival was cancelled. The Gau Tao festival is a meaningful event for the Mong. We have fun and compete in many folk games. I hope the festival will continue to be held every year so people can pray for good luck and prosperity.” The Mong attend the Gau Tao festival to have fun and strengthen their community through folk singing, dancing, and games. In recent years Ha Giang province has organized the …
Festival
28 locales attend sea festival in Ba Ria-Vung Tau
The 2018 Ba Ria – Vung Tau Sea Festival opened in Vung Tau City on Tuesday, expected to be the greatest sea festival ever held in Vietnam. This is the second time the festival has been organized, with the first one dating back to 2006. Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province is located on the coast of southeastern Vietnam, around 100 kilometers (a two-hour drive) from Ho Chi Minh City. The area is well known to tourists for its beautiful scenery and beaches in Vung Tau, the capital of the province, including Back Beach, Front Beach, and Pineapple Beach. The opening ceremony was held at Cot Co (Flagpole) Park, on Nguyen An Ninh Street of the Back Beach area, where most activities of the festival will take place. With this year’s theme “Connecting the Provinces, Cities of Vietnam – Sustainable Development of Commerce – Tourism and Economy,” the festival will display a large number of the localities’ main activities, specialties, and cultures, according to news page Vung Tau Tin Tuc (Vung Tau News). The opening ceremony succeeded in displaying the rich resources and how the regions are favored by nature so as to attract visitors, promote their tourism, and raise investments. Twenty-eight coastal localities with 800 stalls participate in the festival to display the regions’ cultures, while conducting entertaining activities. During the opening ceremony, Nguyen Van Trinh, chairman of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau People’s Committee, mentioned the region’s most recent efforts to improve tourism quality including high-quality product promotion, tourism networks, private investment encouragement, and human workforce development, among others. After having taken a “break” for 12 years, the 2018 Ba Ria-Vung Tau Sea Festival is held from August 28 to September 3. Photo: VOV In his opening remarks, Trinh also expressed his desire to connect, partner, and work with private businesses, other regions, and foreign investors. Moreover, Ba Ria-Vung Tau also introduced its …
[Read more...] about 28 locales attend sea festival in Ba Ria-Vung Tau
Youth Month 2021 launched in Thai Nguyen province
At the ceremony to kick off the Youth Month 2021, and launch a tree-planting festival (Photo: VNA) Thai Nguyen (VNA) - The youth unions of the Central Agencies Bloc and the northern province of Thai Nguyen on February 28 co-organised a ceremony in the locality to kick off the Youth Month 2021, and launch a tree-planting festival. The event was in response to the 90th founding anniversary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (March 26, 1931-2021). A wide range of programmes and activities were held in the framework of the event, including presenting gifts to 15 former volunteer youths, bikes to 10 students with special circumstances in Dai Tu district and bookcases to local schools, and supporting the building of house for one poor household, among others. Following the launching ceremony, the participants and local youths planted trees, and clean up the Vietnamese youth historical relic site, and several roads in Dai Tu district./. VNA …
[Read more...] about Youth Month 2021 launched in Thai Nguyen province
