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

  • 'Young man spreading love

    Young man spreading love

    SOCIAL AFFAIRS -
    ĐBP - In the rush of modern life, there are still young individuals who quietly choose a slower pace to think deeply and act for the community through persistent small deeds and large-scale movements.
  • 'Urgent and decisive implementation of tasks

    Urgent and decisive implementation of tasks

    NEWS - POLITICS -
    ĐBP - The 15th Congress of the Điện Biên provincial Party Committee for the 2025–2030 term has identified a high-reaching economic growth target of 10–11%, with the year 2026 specifically striving to surpass the 11% mark.
  • 'Sustainable vegetable zones take shape in Điện Biên

    Sustainable vegetable zones take shape in Điện Biên

    ECONOMY -
    ĐBP - In recent years, as part of the agricultural restructuring program aimed at developing market-oriented agriculture, increasing added value and improving sustainability, Điện Biên province has focused on implementing a wide range of coordinated measures, with priority given to the development of concentrated vegetable production areas in localities with favorable natural conditions, soil and climate.
  • 'Nutrition today, stature tomorrow

    Nutrition today, stature tomorrow

    SOCIAL AFFAIRS -
    ĐBP - Proper nutrition plays a vital role for children from their very first years of life and throughout their journey into adulthood. The quality of nutrition determines health, physical strength, mental capacity, and the ability to learn and work in the future.
  • 'Sín Thầu improves quality of party cell meetings

    Sín Thầu improves quality of party cell meetings

    NEWS - POLITICS -
    ĐBP - The quality of party cell meetings is considered a yardstick for the effectiveness of party building at the grassroots level. Realizing this, the Sín Thầu commune Party Committee has focused on leading and directing the synchronous implementation of many solutions to improve this quality.
  • 'Bringing new hope to ethnic minority areas

    Bringing new hope to ethnic minority areas

    SOCIAL AFFAIRS -
    ĐBP - In recent years, paved roads now reach commune centres, livelihood models are proving effective, rural workers have access to more jobs, and both the material and spiritual well-being of ethnic minority people has steadily improved. These are tangible outcomes of the coordinated implementation of the National Target Program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the 2021-2030 period across the province.
  • '“The station is home, the border is homeland”

    “The station is home, the border is homeland”

    NEWS - POLITICS -
    ĐBP - Managing and protecting more than 40km of the border with Laos across a vast area with fragmented terrain where residents still face significant hardships, the officers and soldiers of the Mường Nhé Border Post persist in staying close to the people and the land.
  • 'Creating tourism attraction from traditional cuisine

    Creating tourism attraction from traditional cuisine

    TRAVEL -
    ĐBP - With 19 ethnic groups living together, culinary culture is considered a rich and valuable “soft resource” of Điện Biên province. From rustic ingredients of the mountains and forests to community meals, cuisine is gradually becoming a vivid connecting thread between cultural heritage and tourism development, which opens a new direction for community tourism in Điện Biên at the present stage.
  • 'Everyone should have a cozy Tết

    Everyone should have a cozy Tết

    SOCIAL AFFAIRS -
    ĐBP - In the days nearing the 2026 Lunar New Year, a bustling and excited atmosphere is spreading throughout villages and streets. For poor households and workers in difficult circumstances, the timely care and sharing through Tết gifts from all levels, branches, and socio-political organizations bring faith and the warmth of a meaningful spring.
  • 'Bringing provincial Party Committee’s Resolution to life

    Bringing provincial Party Committee’s Resolution to life

    NEWS - POLITICS -
    ĐBP - Immediately after Resolution No.07-NQ/TU regarding “Enhancing the leadership capacity and combat strength of grassroots party organizations, contributing to consolidating the grassroots political system for the 2026-2030 period” was issued, communes and wards across Điện Biên province moved quickly to materialize it through implementation plans tailored to practical local conditions.