Festival associated with folk art in Mu Cang Chai: Tours & Travel

It can be said that the life of the Mong people in Yen Bai is associated with folk songs, folk dances, musical instruments and annual community festivals.

Festivals of the year of the Mong people include the Tau Su festival held on the occasion of the Mong people’s New Year; The festival of the village community that takes place on the Dragon day of January every year; Forest Festival is held on January 28 every year…

Especially, the new rice offering ceremony in the Mong language is called " Nào máo blề xa" and the Gau Tao festival is held on the occasion of the New Year.

Gau Tao is the most important festival for the Hmong people in Yen Bai, with the purpose for the owner to pray for children and associated with the community to pray for good crops and prosperous people.

Especially, the new rice offering ceremony in the Mong language is called " Nào máo blề xa" and the Gau Tao festival is held on the occasion of the New Year.

Gau Tao is the most important festival for the H’mong people in Yen Bai, with the purpose for the owner to pray for children and associated with the community to pray for good crops and prosperous people.

Gau Tao Festival is also an occasion for the performance of the Mong Khen dance, along with the rhythms of inviting wine and inviting folk songs.

Equally sacred is the New Rice Offering Ceremony, the Mong people organize this ritual to thank their ancestors, heaven and earth for favorable rain and wind, avoid diseases, have a bountiful harvest, a strong and wealthy community.

On the occasion of Tet or in traditional wedding ceremonies, the Mong people sing folk songs and dance Khen. Many folk songs are lullabies, parallel songs, quizzes, lullabies, folk dances… reflecting the working life, conquering nature and wishing for a happy and fulfilled life.

The most special is the kind of singing that tells the story of the nation’s history called “Thản Chù;" sing “Gau Phenh" – boys and girls sing while playing Pa Pao, singing through a thread connected to two bamboo tubes covered with frog skin for the two of them.

In particular, at the wedding, the H’mong people in the high mountains of Mu Cang Chai and Tram Tau also sing answers, quizzes, and solutions. Reciprocal singing at H’mong weddings always shows the humility of both the groom’s family as well as the girl’s family in the way they treat people.

A Hmong wedding usually has all 16 songs including the opening song, singing on the way, singing to invite wine, singing to open the door, singing to hide the key, singing riddles, singing the delivery of gifts, singing the opposites…

Along with singing, the H’mong people here also have a very special Khen dance. In the Gau Tao festival, dancing is the opening ceremony of the festival. In addition to the raft, the H’mong also use the lip lute, the Khen lá(using leaves as the trumpet), the turd, and the flute.

The H’mong trumpet is always an object of separation from the Hmong man. Thanks to this unique trumpet, the Mong people not only express their feelings through the melodious and melodious melodies, but also a lively, richly shaped prop in the skillful and powerful movements of the dance “Tha Khenh. ”

The Khen dance shows the chivalrous spirit and the unyielding will of the mountain man.

Along with the intangible culture, the Mong people in Yen Bai also have very unique types of material culture such as cuisine; housing architecture; traditional jobs…

The Mong people in Yen Bai have a very famous forging profession with high techniques such as forging knives, hoes, and self-casting plowshares. women’s jewelry, horse music casting, cowbells…

The people also make wooden household utensils, wicker bamboo and rattan which is very beautiful and delicate.

Brocade weaving is one of the oldest and most distinctive cultural features of the Mong people in Yen Bai. The fabric is woven from flax fiber, made entirely by hand with many sophisticated stages.

According to the concept of the Mong people, the official costumes of both men and women must be made from this fabric, especially for the beggars. Therefore, from a young age, Hmong women have been taught how to weave by their mothers or grandmothers.

The H’mong people in Yen Bai also have a meaningful custom that is to go to the market, especially the colorful brocade Tet markets at the end of the year. The Mong people often celebrate Tet 1 month earlier than the Lunar New Year, they often go to the market from far away villages very early.

Going to the market with them is not only to sell products from the mountains and forests and buy necessities for family activities, but also an opportunity to go to the market to meet, date, exchange, and show off their skills in playing the flute with them. Going to the market has long become a cultural beauty of the Mong people in the highlands of Yen Bai.