Hà Nhì people celebrate traditional New Year Festival

ĐBP - The Hà Nhì people in Điện Biên, a northern mountainous province, have successfully preserved numerous traditional cultural values that showcase their unique identity. One such manifestation is the observance of Khù Sự Chà, their traditional New Year Festival, held in December.

Girls in traditional costumes perform during the Khù Sự Chà, the traditional New Year Festival in Tả Kố Khừ village, Sín Thầu commune, Mường Nhé district in the northern province of Điện Biên. Photos by Diệp Chi

As one of the 19 ethnic groups in the province, the Hà Nhì predominantly inhabit 21 villages across four bordering communes in Mường Nhé District, namely Sín Thầu, Chung Chải, Sen Thượng, and Leng Su Sìn.

The Hà Nhì's traditional New Year, known as Khù Sự Chà, typically spans three days in December. Similar to other ethnic communities' traditional festivals, it serves as a time for families to express gratitude to their ancestors. The occasion provides an opportunity for people to reunite, reflect on and share experiences from the past year, celebrate the arrival of spring, and extend wishes for a prosperous new year over glasses of wine.

According to Hà Nhì customs, on the morning of the first day of the new year, families prepare bánh trôi (sticky rice cakes) as an offering to their ancestors. This ritual symbolizes the transition from the old to the new year and acts as a symbolic meal for ancestors joining in the New Year celebrations.

Local residents and tourists participate in the folk dance during Khù Sự Chà Festival in Tả Kố Khừ village, Sín Thầu commune.

During the ceremony, the host molds three large, evenly round cakes, boils them, places them on a fresh banana leaf, sprinkles fragrant roasted sesame seeds, and then offers them on the ancestral altar.

Following the ritual, family members can enjoy the cakes before proceeding to slaughter a pig. The pork serves both as an offering in the ancestral worship ritual and as sustenance for the family during the Tết days.

Offering pork to the ancestors is a mandatory ritual for the Hà Nhì, symbolizing cleanliness and a desire for a fresh start. Before slaughtering the pig, the host pours water over its neck, symbolizing the washing away of misfortunes from the previous year, ushering in a new and better year.

Hà Nhì ethnic women make bánh giầy in preparation for the Khù Sự Chà Festival.

During the pig slaughtering ceremony, the Hà Nhì people have a tradition of examining the pig's liver to predict life in the new year. A healthy and vibrant liver indicates thriving livestock farming and brings luck to the family.

On the second day of Tết, families prepare bánh giầy (round glutinous rice cake) to offer as gifts to distant guests, showcasing the hospitality and warmth of the Hà Nhì people.

Festive visits continue on the second day, with households preparing various dishes and engaging in traditional activities such as singing folk songs and dancing. These elements contribute to a vibrant and joyful Tết atmosphere for the Hà Nhì people on the borderlands of their homeland.

By Diệp Chi
Comment

You have 500/500 characters left

Please enter 5 or more characters!!!

Recent news

  • 'Mường Chà commune Police with “Digital Popular Education” movement

    Mường Chà commune Police with “Digital Popular Education” movement

    SOCIAL AFFAIRS -
    ĐBP - Currently, in Mường Chà commune, Điện Biên province, many elderly people have never used smartphones, and many remain unfamiliar with cashless payments. Therefore, Mường Chà commune police forces determined that achieving successful digital transformation requires first helping residents understand, know, and feel confident using technology.
  • 'Youths active in remote villages

    Youths active in remote villages

    SOCIAL AFFAIRS -
    ĐBP - Amid highland mountains and forests, the green color of volunteer shirts presence on hill fields, rural roads, social security activities, and journeys bringing digital transformation to every village.
  • 'Turning culture into a development resource

    Turning culture into a development resource

    CULTURE - SPORTS -
    ĐBP - Designating culture as a spiritual foundation and endogenous resource for sustainable development, Điện Biên province deployed numerous solutions to elevate the spiritual and cultural life of the people, preserving and promoting traditional values, through which cultural values spread deeply across the community, contributing to building a rich identity and developing image for Điện Biên.
  • 'Silent footsteps find martyrs’ remains

    Silent footsteps find martyrs’ remains

    NEWS - POLITICS -
    ĐBP - There are marches without gunfire, only silent footsteps tracing memories to find martyrs still lying behind. Amid the mist atop Pha Đin peak, the journey gathering 2 martyrs’ remains within the “500-day-and-night Campaign to boost searching, gathering, and identifying martyrs’ remains” represents a journey of gratitude, rediscovering names for fallen soldiers.
  • 'Điện Biên synchronously renovates park, greenery, and sidewalk system

    Điện Biên synchronously renovates park, greenery, and sidewalk system

    SOCIAL AFFAIRS -
    ĐBP - The system of parks, trees, and sidewalks plays a crucial role in creating landscapes, enhancing living quality, and forming a modern urban appearance. In Điện Biên province’s Điện Biên Phủ and Mường Thanh wards, despite serving as the provincial development core, the system of trees, parks, and landscape infrastructure exhibits numerous limitations requiring synchronous renovation under planning to satisfy green, smart, and sustainable urban construction requirements.
  • 'OCOP: Điện Biên’s tourism ambassadors

    OCOP: Điện Biên’s tourism ambassadors

    TRAVEL -
    ĐBP - After years of implementation, the One Commune One Product (OCOP) Program has encouraged many producers to improve product quality, refine production processes, build brands and expand markets. As tourism increasingly shifts toward deeper, experience-based development, integrating OCOP products into tourist experiences is seen as a way to create more sustainable added value for both products and destinations.
  • 'Keepers of ethnic groups’ cultural identities

    Keepers of ethnic groups’ cultural identities

    CULTURE - SPORTS -
    ĐBP - Điện Biên is home to 19 ethnic groups living together, with each community contributing to creating a colorful cultural mosaic. Through the flow of integration and development, those traditional values continue to be cherished, preserved, and handed down across generations.
  • 'Joining hands to collect martyrs’ relatives’ DNA samples

    Joining hands to collect martyrs’ relatives’ DNA samples

    SOCIAL AFFAIRS -
    ĐBP - Guided by the moral traditions of “When drinking water, remember its source” and “Repaying gratitude,” over recent days, police forces across Điện Biên province have been actively coordinating with functional units to boost collecting DNA samples from relatives of martyrs whose identities remain unconfirmed.
  • 'Developing tourism from culture

    Developing tourism from culture

    TRAVEL -
    ĐBP - Điện Biên is home to 19 ethnic groups with numerous distinct traditional cultural values in festivals, costumes, cuisine, and customs, with the entire province currently holding 24 national intangible cultural heritages alongside majestic natural landscapes, establishing major potential for Điện Biên to exploit and develop tourism.
  • 'Empowering women to tackle social challenges together

    Empowering women to tackle social challenges together

    SOCIAL AFFAIRS -
    ĐBP - The implementation of Project 938 on “Communication, education, advocacy and support for women to address social issues affecting women during the 2017-2027 period,” launched by the Prime Minister, has created a solid foundation for government agencies, sectors and the Women’s Union at all levels to play a leading role in addressing social issues from the grassroots.
  • 'Synchronously coordinating execution of 500-day-and-night campaign

    Synchronously coordinating execution of 500-day-and-night campaign

    NEWS - POLITICS -
    ĐBP - These days, alongside the entire country, at martyrs’ cemeteries across Điện Biên province, collecting martyrs’ remains samples to serve DNA testing is deployed urgently. Each collected biological sample demonstrates a spirit of responsibility, deep gratitude, and close synchronous coordination among sectors and forces during the execution of this sacred duty.
  • 'Listening to the people’s voices

    Listening to the people’s voices

    NEWS - POLITICS -
    ĐBP - Over a year of operating under the two-tier local governance model, the gap between party committees, local authorities, and residents has narrowed continuously. Voter contacts, dialogues, and field trips to the grassroots level by commune leaders have become occasions for residents to confide their thoughts and aspirations, thereby resolving difficulties and obstacles promptly.