Khan Gasoline Festival becomes National Cultural Heritage

(Baonghean.vn) - The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has just issued a Decision on the announcementList of National Intangible Cultural Heritage, including the Xang Khan Festival of the Thai people in Nghe An province.

The Xang Khan Festival (also known as Kin gong booc may, depending on the characteristics of each region) of the Thai people in Nghe An province (including the districts of Que Phong, Quy Chau, Quy Hop, Tuong Duong, Ky Son, Con Cuong, Nghia Dan) is one of the 7 intangible cultural heritages announced on this occasion.

The shaman performs a ceremony to pray for a new year of prosperity and unity for the villagers. Photo: Minh Thai

The Xang Khan Festival is a happy day for the Muong in general and the shaman's family in particular. The festival is for people throughout the village to pay their gratitude to the shaman who cured their family's illness. This is also a day for young couples to meet, some have become husband and wife through this festival.

After the ceremony, the shamans and the villagers danced around the flower tree (with Boọc Mây). The festival became more and more bustling as the night went on with interesting performances by the shamans as well as everyone attending the Xang Khan festival.

People happily dance and jump on bamboo poles during the Xang Khan Festival. Photo: Minh Thai

According to the elders in the Thai ethnic villages in Western Nghe An, the Xang Khan festival has existed since ancient times. At that time, "the ground was like a banyan leaf, the sky was like a snail's lid, the mountains and forests were like chicken footprints", Xang Khan was organized by shamans. Because each shaman learned from a different teacher; each village, each region had different economic and living conditions, the way the Xang Khan festival was organized in each place was also different.

The Xang Khan Festival is a unique folk religious festival of the Thai people, contributing to satisfying the cultural enjoyment needs, especially spiritual culture of ethnic minorities in general and the Thai people in particular./.

Minh Thai