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

  • 'Racing to complete new coffee and macadamia planting season

    Racing to complete new coffee and macadamia planting season

    ECONOMY -
    ĐBP - In implementing the provincial People’s Committee’s Plan No.1850/KH-UBND on new coffee and macadamia planting, localities across Điện Biên have launched simultaneous campaigns and accelerated planting operations since late June. The newly planted areas are now being urgently completed, with efforts focused on meeting the plan within the appropriate planting season and ensuring the targets are achieved.
  • 'Vietnamese language training for students entering Grade 1

    Vietnamese language training for students entering Grade 1

    SOCIAL AFFAIRS -
    ĐBP - During early August days, across Vietnamese language enhancement classes in Điện Biên province, ethnic minority children preparing to enter grade 1 received guidance on numerous basic skills - ranging from holding pens, reading, writing, and recognizing letters to communicating and building learning habits - helping them gain confidence to step into new learning environments.
  • 'Điện Biên enriches its OCOP product portfolio

    Điện Biên enriches its OCOP product portfolio

    ECONOMY -
    ĐBP - Building on its potential and advantages, Điện Biên is stepping up the development of One Commune One Product (OCOP) products in a direction that emphasizes diversification, quality improvement and greater added value. These efforts are gradually enriching the province’s OCOP product portfolio, strengthening product brands, expanding consumer markets and contributing to rural economic development.
  • 'Party committees and local authorities enhance dialogues with people

    Party committees and local authorities enhance dialogues with people

    NEWS - POLITICS -
    ĐBP - Direct dialogues between party committees, local authorities, and the people represent a crucial solution to promote grassroots democracy and resolve emerging difficulties and obstacles directly from residential areas. Through dialogue conferences, public thoughts and aspirations are heard and answered openly, forging consensus in deploying guidelines and policies to elevate management and operational efficiency while driving socio-economic development.
  • 'Awakening the will to escape from poverty

    Awakening the will to escape from poverty

    SOCIAL AFFAIRS -
    ĐBP - Across numerous highland villages, life for many households remains filled with shortages, yet with timely companionship and support from the Party, State, and social organizations, many families have gained additional conditions to develop livelihoods.
  • 'Điện Biên delegation pays tribute to Xaysomphone Phomvihane

    Điện Biên delegation pays tribute to Xaysomphone Phomvihane

    NEWS - POLITICS -
    ĐBP - On August 10, a delegation from Điện Biên province led by Trần Tiến Dũng, Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, and Head of the provincial National Assembly Deputy Delegation, visited the Lao Embassy in Hà Nội to pay tribute and write the condolence book in memory of Xaysomphone Phomvihane, President of the National Assembly of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
  • 'Boosting credit growth to serve socio-economic development

    Boosting credit growth to serve socio-economic development

    ECONOMY -
    ĐBP - Amid an environment where the socio-economic context continues to maintain positive growth momentum, the banking sector across Điện Biên province plays a crucial role in supplying financial resources for production, business, and development programs.
  • '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.