Bun Voc Nam Festival consists of 2 parts: the ceremony and the festival. The ceremony will recreate the crop praying ceremony, rain praying ceremony, xoe dance and water splashing.
The opening part of the ceremony is the ritual of worshiping the gods with offerings including: Pigs, chickens, banh chung, wine, tea, sticky rice, sugar cane, bananas, fruits, and candies. After the offerings are finished, the shaman begins to perform the rituals of worshiping the gods. At the end of this ceremony, the shaman steps up to give orders to the procession to ask for rainwater to worship the Buddha statue in the temple. The procession goes to ask for rainwater from families that have been selected by the village. These families had a bumper crop last year, prosperous business, and their families were warm and happy. The families in the village carry rainwater and stand on both sides of the road to splash water on the procession with the wish to contribute water to worship the Buddha statue and pray for a lucky, healthy, and prosperous new year.
When the procession of water and flowers arrives at the pagoda. The shaman holds two incense sticks and enters the pagoda to perform the incense offering rituals; then receives the offerings from the village elders to offer to the pagoda. When the offerings are finished, the shaman allows the procession to enter the pagoda to offer flowers and water. The two flower offerings will be followed by a watering ceremony until all the flowers are offered. Next is the Buddha statue washing ceremony with the wish to purify and wash away all the dust of the world in the past year and pray for the newest and cleanest things for the new year. The shaman begins to perform the rain praying ritual; then lets the entire procession circle the pagoda 3 times and allows everyone to sing and dance in front of the pagoda. Finally, the delegates, tourists and people go to the Nam Mu stream to join the water splashing festival of the Lao people; praying for a new year of health, peace, bountiful crops, and abundant luck.
The Lao ethnic group in Tam Duong district is a community of people living mainly along streams, places with plenty of water, favorable for agricultural production. Although the population is not large, the cultural and spiritual life of the people here has many unique, rich and diverse features typical of the Lao ethnic group in the Northwest.
Since ancient times, Lao people have attached great importance to water, water is an essential need of human and all things. From that wish, Lao people have relied on "pha" and "din" (meaning heaven and earth) to pray for favorable weather, happiness for every family, and prosperity for all things. This is the origin of the Lao people's custom of praying for rain and is called Bun Voc Nam Festival or Water Festival.
The festival includes many activities that attract locals and tourists such as: Cultural exchange, stream fishing competition, raft racing, culinary competition, bamboo basket weaving competition, organizing folk games (throwing shuttlecock, catching feet, blindfolded gong beating, walking on a balance bridge...) imbued with the identity of the Lao people.
Coming from Vinh Phuc, tourist Nguyen Thi Nguyet said that she and her relatives had heard about the interesting Lao festival through friends, so they decided to participate this year. The festival atmosphere was very bustling and joyful. She was impressed with the costumes of the local people. It was very beautiful and elaborate. The elderly here even dyed their teeth black. There are many unique cultural features here worth experiencing.
Mr. Vang Van Keo, Vice Chairman of Na Tam Commune People's Committee, said that Na Tam is a commune with nearly 100% Lao ethnic people living there. The daily life of the people here has many unique cultural features that have been preserved to this day, including the Bun Voc Nam festival - a traditional ritual of the Lao people. This festival is held annually to pray for favorable weather, good crops, and good health.
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