Water Festival of Lao people in Lai Chau

The Lao people are one of the 20 ethnic groups that have long lived in Lai Chau. They live mainly along rivers and streams, where there is an abundant water source, suitable for agricultural cultivation. Every March, when preparing for the new crop, the Lao people celebrate the Bun Voc Nam festival to thank their ancestors and gods for blessing them with a good old year and pray for a new year with favorable weather, bountiful crops, and good health for people and animals.

On the morning of the ceremony, the shaman will lead a group of people led by the village elders, with prestige, along with 80 strong and talented young men and women, to the front of the village's worshiping hut to offer offerings and report to the gods: today is a good day, a good month, our group is going to ask for water from heaven to perform the Buddha statue washing ceremony and pray for rain. The whole group will walk while beating drums, gongs, hitting trays, and plucking dry leaves to create symbolic sounds like thunder and rain. On the way to the pagoda, families in the village bring rainwater to stand on both sides of the road to splash on the procession with the wish that their families will have luck, health, and prosperity in the new year. The Bun Voc Nam Festival takes place annually with many activities imbued with Lao ethnic identity, creating a unique tourism product that attracts a large number of people and visitors from near and far to Tam Duong district, Lai Chau. All activities within the framework of the Bun Voc Nam festival are imbued with the identity of the Lao people, not only contributing to preserving and promoting traditional cultural values ​​of the Lao people, but also educating the tradition of loving the homeland and country, national pride and self-respect for generations and a sense of responsibility in preserving, promoting and exploiting cultural values ​​associated with tourism development and local socio-economic development.

Thuy Ha - quochoitv.vn

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