People of 4 mountainous communes in Bac Binh happily celebrate the New Year of Rice

Traditionally, on December 14-15 every year, ethnic minorities in four highland communes in Bac Binh district, including Phan Son, Phan Lam, Phan Dien and Phan Tien, celebrate the Dau Lua Festival.

*The Dau Lua Festival carries many unique and vibrant cultural features of the Raglay and K'ho communities.*

Dau Lua Festival (also known as Nhôbrehe Festival) is an important festival, with many unique and vibrant cultural features of the Raglay and K'ho communities living in Binh Thuan province.

Previously, upland rice (mother rice) was the main food source of the Raglay and K'ho people. Each rice season usually lasted 6 months. Every time they harvested and brought rice home, the people held rice worshiping ceremonies and celebrated Tet separately for each family, lasting until the end of December. Later, on the occasion of the Dau Lua Festival, the local cultural sector organized a Cultural and Sports Festival for 4 mountainous communes. Since then, the Dau Lua Festival is no longer a happy day for each family but has become a common festival showing the solidarity and unity of the people here.

*Cultural activities bearing the mark of ethnic minorities in mountainous areas*

This year, Phan Tien is the host of the 28th Cultural and Sports Festival of Mountainous Communes. People from the three communes of Phan Son, Phan Lam, and Phan Dien will come here to participate. The festival includes activities such as setting up camp, decorating the pole, shooting crossbows, men's volleyball, pounding rice, cooking rice in bamboo tubes, and carrying water. Especially, during the festival night, there will be art performances, demonstrations of traditional costumes, and a night of rice wine... All rituals aim to express the gratitude, remembrance, and trust of the people for the mother rice plant on the fields, praying for the rice plant to not be disturbed, not be affected by pests, or disease, so that it can bloom and bear fruit, bringing prosperity to everyone.

Mr. Huynh Van Vinh - Director of the Center for Culture, Information and Sports of Bac Binh district, Deputy organizer of the festival, said: The 28th Cultural - Sports Festival of 4 mountainous communes in 2024 aims to create a truly joyful, healthy, united, safe and economical atmosphere on the occasion of the New Year of the Highlands of ethnic minorities. Thereby introducing, promoting, exploiting and collecting valuable cultural, artistic and traditional sports assets of ethnic minorities in the spirit of Resolution 9 of the Central Committee (11th tenure) on "Building and developing Vietnamese culture to meet the requirements of sustainable development of the country". This year, in addition to the performances with ethnic influences performed by the art troupes of the communes, the festival also has the participation of the Chu Ro ethnic gong team (Long Khanh, Dong Nai) to exchange, create connections and develop provincial tourism for visitors.

Welcoming the New Year of the Rice Harvest 2024, from the village to the commune, everyone can see the hustle and bustle. Although the weather is unfavorable, the rainfall ends early, affecting crop yields, but thanks to good prices, people's lives have improved significantly, and the conversion of crop structure has brought economic efficiency. With the internal will to rise up and the policy support of the Party and the State, contributing to raising the new rural criteria, the security and order situation is maintained. The rate of poor households has decreased and the rate of households with a good standard of living has increased, creating a warm spring, contributing to tightening the solidarity between the communities of ethnic groups.

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