The procession at the festival. Photo: Trong Dat/VNA
* Khai Ha Festival is imbued with Muong culture
On February 5 (the 8th day of the Lunar New Year), in Phong Phu commune, Tan Lac district (Hoa Binh), the 2025 Muong ethnic group's Khai Ha Festival took place. This is the largest traditional folk festival of the Muong ethnic group, and at the same time has become an indispensable cultural and religious activity during the New Year and Spring of the Muong people in Hoa Binh. The festival attracts thousands of people and tourists from inside and outside the province to participate.
At the ceremony, Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoa Binh province, Bui Duc Hinh emphasized that the Khai Ha festival of the Muong ethnic group in Hoa Binh is the largest traditional festival of the Muong people in Hoa Binh and has existed for a long time. The festival is closely associated with indispensable cultural and religious activities of the Muong people in Hoa Binh, especially in the four large Muong regions (Bi, Vang, Thang, Dong) of the province. The festival is meant to respect the gods, commemorate those who have contributed to opening up the land, establishing the Muong and praying for all things to grow, favorable weather, bountiful crops, a prosperous and happy life, and for good things to come to every home.
The ritual of going to the fields at the 2025 Khai Ha Festival. Photo: Trong Dat/VNA
The Khai Ha festival of the Muong ethnic group in Hoa Binh is usually held in the first lunar month every year, right after Tet, with many unique rituals creating its own unique features. Depending on each Muong region, the time and location of the festival are different.
Accordingly, the Muong Vang Opening Festival (Lac Son) is held on the 4th day of the first lunar month according to the Muong Vang calendar at Ang Ka Temple and several other locations; the Muong Thanh Opening Festival (Cao Phong) is held on the 6th day of the first lunar month according to the Muong Thanh calendar at Ca Temple; the Muong Dong Opening Festival (Kim Boi) is held on the 3rd day of the 5th lunar month, which is the 4th day of the 4th lunar month according to the Muong Dong calendar at Muong Chanh Temple; the Muong Bi Opening Festival (Tan Lac district) is held on the 7th and 8th day of the first lunar month every year (the 6th and 7th day of the 4th lunar month according to the Muong Bi calendar).
Muong women in traditional costumes perform at the festival. Photo: Trong Dat/VNA
In recent years, the material and spiritual life of the ethnic people in the province has been improved. Every time Tet comes, Spring comes, ethnic people return to their homeland and participate in local festival activities more and more. The festivals contribute to meeting the spiritual and cultural needs of the people and attracting tourists. They are practical activities to implement the Project to preserve and promote the cultural values of the Muong ethnic group and the "Hoa Binh Culture" in the period of 2023 - 2030 in the province. Thereby, promoting and disseminating the culture, people, and beautiful natural landscapes of Hoa Binh to develop tourism.
The 2025 Muong Ethnic Group Opening Festival will feature 600 gong performers, along with many cultural, artistic, sports, and folk games with rich and diverse content that reflect the cultural identity of the Muong people of Hoa Binh in general and the characteristics of the four Muong regions in particular. The festival will also feature booths displaying agricultural products, handicrafts, OCOP products, culture, tourism, etc. from localities in the province; and job consulting and introduction activities.
People of Phong Phu commune, Tan Lac district eagerly go to the fields to plow at the Khai Ha Festival. Photo: Trong Dat/VNA
Through the Festival, we continue to contribute to raising awareness in preserving and promoting national cultural identity, traditional values of the homeland, enhancing confidence, pride, and national self-esteem, bringing us special impressions, having a good mindset in the early spring of the new year. At the same time, the activity encourages all classes of people to enthusiastically compete in labor, production, and study to complete the socio-economic development tasks in 2025, contributing to the successful implementation of the Resolution of the Party Congresses at all levels and the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress.
* Prepare 180,000 salary bags for the Tran Hung Dao salary distribution ceremony
From February 5 to 12 (ie from January 8 to 15), the Saint Tran's Salary Distribution Festival will take place at Tran Thuong Temple, Tran Hung Dao Commune, Ly Nhan District, Ha Nam Province. According to the plan, the Organizing Committee has prepared 180,000 salary bags to distribute to people and visitors from all over the country at 12 gates around the temple area on the night of February 12, 2025.
The salary distribution ceremony at Tran Thuong Temple consists of the ceremony and the festival. The ceremony includes the following rituals: Opening ceremony, procession of the Saint's palanquin, water procession, salary import, spiritual rituals, and salary distribution ceremony. In which, the salary distribution ceremony takes place on the night of January 14th and early morning of January 15th. The festival includes activities such as: Chinese chess tournament, tug of war, and volleyball tournament.
Chairman of Ly Nhan District People's Committee Nguyen Duc Nhuong said that the new point of this year's Festival is that the Management Board of the special national relic of Tran Thuong Temple and the People's Committee of Ly Nhan District will hold the Opening Ceremony and carry water from the Red River to the temple from February 5 (January 8, At Ty year). This is a traditional ritual with a history of hundreds of years, maintained and preserved until now as a traditional cultural beauty every early spring, at the same time recalling the origin of the Tran family.
The Saint Tran Hung Dao Festival is one of the major festivals of Ha Nam province, restored and maintained since 2009. This is a meaningful spiritual and traditional activity to pray for a year of favorable weather, bountiful harvests, good health, prosperity and peace for every family; reminding generations of the morality of "When drinking water, remember its source", commemorating the merits of Saint Vu Hung Dao Dai Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan.
Chairman of Ly Nhan District People's Committee Nguyen Duc Nhuong said that to ensure the safety of delegates and people attending the festival, Ly Nhan District has directed the People's Committee of Tran Hung Dao Commune and the Management Board of the Tran Thuong Temple Special National Monument to develop a plan and coordinate with security forces and functional forces to deploy plans to ensure political security, social order and safety, fire prevention and fighting, and traffic safety in the area. Units are on duty at 15 checkpoints inside and outside the festival area to ensure security, order, and traffic safety.
Tran Thuong Temple is one of the three largest temples in the country, worshiping Hung Dao Dai Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan. Legend has it that on the way to fight the Yuan-Mongol army, seeing the dangerous terrain here, he could enter the Chau River, go to the Red River up to Thang Long or down to the sea, so he set up 6 food warehouses to serve the resistance war against the Yuan-Mongol army for the second time (in 1285). After returning victorious, he planted a tomb, took the people here as a rule, from then on the village was named Tran Thuong.
Historical books do not record the Tran Dynasty's food storage here, but folk legends and dense traces around the Tran Thuong Temple area such as black ceramic and porcelain pieces, brown glaze, ivory gold of broken bowls and plates with decorative style of Tran Dynasty art, many charcoal flower pot shells... have reinforced this hypothesis. The current location of the temple is the main food storage.
In 1989, Tran Thuong Temple was ranked as a National Historical - Cultural Relic and in 2015, the temple was ranked as a Special National Relic.
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