Muong Chieng Ngam festival

(Baonghean) -When spring has spread warm golden sunshine on the fields that have just finished planting, making the colors of mountain peach blossoms and wild orchids more vivid, it is also the time when Quy Chau land is bustling with Hang Bua festival... As a promise to the mountains, this year's Hang Bua festival is solemnly held, with a large number of ethnic groups in the Northwest of Nghe An excitedly gathering at the foot of Pha En mountain, Hong Tien 2 village, Chau Tien commune (in the old Muong Chieng Ngam) to offer incense in gratitude to the founder of the village, and participate in the exciting cultural, artistic and sports activities of the festival.

Bamboo dancing at Hang Bua Festival.

So everyone tries to arrange their housework and farming to go to the festival and have fun. The Thai girls are flashy in their traditional dresses, wearing long scarves, holding umbrellas, and silver peaches on their hips, jingling and dancing; the old women wear darker clothes, with scarves on their heads, chewing betel slowly, walking leisurely, their eyes sparkling, smiling, remembering the old days of today's festival; the young men bring along the panpipes, the pi and even the pretty con fruit to pray for love; the old men are fond of jars of rice wine, Nhuon songs, and Xuoi melodies... The Thai people in particular and the ethnic groups in Quy Chau district in general highly value traditional values ​​as well as ritual practices, so most people do not rush to the festival area in front of Hang Bua but go to the Muong Chieng Ngam Thanh Hoang Temple not far away to offer incense to their ancestors.

A slow and nostalgic stream of people walked up the 98 green stone steps stained with time to enter the temple. The stone steps, every 7 small steps followed by a large step, followed one another along the Pha En mountainside, reaching up to the sky. From the temple, the vast, poetic space of Muong Chieng Ngam today with majestic mountains, vast fields, green trees, and the large, non-stop water wheel entered the sight. Under the shade of a hundred-year-old banyan tree in front of the temple, Mr. Vi Van Doc, 75 years old, in Luong village, Chau Binh commune, said: “The temple of the Thanh Hoang Muong Chieng Ngam has a long history, worshiping three Thanh Hoang, Mr. Xieu Bo, Xieu Ke and Xieu Luong, the ancestors who founded the village. Previously, with many ups and downs of history, the temple was damaged, and the worship ceremony was not maintained regularly. In recent years, with the trend of returning to the roots, protecting and promoting the cultural identity of the nation, the temple has been restored and rebuilt spaciously. The temple is very sacred, before Tet, he was seriously ill, his children and grandchildren came here to pray for his health, thanks to the ancestors as well as the treatment of the doctors, now he has enough strength to go to the ceremony again”.

On the main day of the Hang Bua festival, according to the old custom, the festival organizing committee, delegations, tourists and people from 12 communes and towns in the district came to offer incense and perform the Great Sacrifice ceremony at the temple. At 8:00 a.m., three shamans performed the contents of the spiritual ceremony program according to the traditional customs of the Thai ethnic group. To be the main celebrant at the Thanh Hoang Temple, the shamans who take care of the spiritual part of the Thai ethnic group must definitely be from Chau Tien commune, have high virtue and be elected by all the people. During the ceremony, the crowd respectfully bowed before the temple amidst the bustling sound of gongs and drums. The main shaman Lo Cam Diep stepped forward to offer incense, expressing the gratitude of the descendants to the gods and ancestors, praying for the ancestors to bless "rivers full of fish, fields full of rice", favorable weather, good health for everyone, and the homeland to develop more and more. After the ceremony, the shamans invited everyone to enter the temple to drink rice wine and eat some sticky rice, chicken, meat, and fish on the offering tray to bring good luck. Outside the temple yard, the festival had begun.

At 8:00 a.m., tens of thousands of people had gathered at Hang Bua festival ground, including many international tourists. This year, the area right in front of Hang Bua was leveled by Quy Chau district, expanding the area for sales, parking, camping as well as sports fields; around the area, there were planted cajuput trees to create shade, at the end of the yard, additional ancillary works were built to serve everyone. The opening program was a special welcome song and dance performance by the mass art troupe of ethnic groups in Quy Chau district. The lyrics and dances were imbued with the national cultural identity praising the homeland, the gentle and hospitable land of Quy Chau, always wanting to make friends near and far, to join hands. The opening speech of the festival by Chairman of the District People's Committee Phan Duc Dong reviewed the ancient history of Muong Chieng Ngam in particular and Quy Chau district in general; and affirm the great value of Hang Bua Festival in preserving and promoting the cultural heritage values ​​of the land and people here; at the same time, expressing the desire to receive more and more help, support and investment from all levels of sectors, unions, organizations and individuals to improve the economic, cultural and spiritual life of local people, increasingly better meeting the spiritual and cultural needs and exploration of tourists.

The opening drum beat by comrade Lang Van Chien, Secretary of the District Party Committee, resounded, signaling the official start of a jubilant festival of the Muong land. The gongs and drums were bustling, the Thai girls happily danced, sang, jumped on bamboo poles, and threw con; here the sounds of the flute and the pi resounded, there the old men and women, young men and women happily drank wine, sang Nhuon, sang high and low, and told stories. All those sounds blended together into a unique melody of the village festival. The visitors who witnessed it also participated in all the activities. The Hang Bua Festival is a cultural festival, so it focuses more on the festival parts. This year, in addition to the festival program, there are many activities such as: art competition, culinary culture, beautiful camping competition, Thai writing competition, wine performance competition combined with Nhuon Xuoi singing between traditional cultural clubs, embroidery competition, spinning competition, incense rolling competition, ethnic costume performance competition, Hang Bua beauty contest and campfire competition, volleyball competition, crossbow shooting, stick pushing, tug of war, swing, playing to le, walking on stilts, throwing con...

The competitions were all exciting, attracting viewers and cheering. Opposite the main stage was the camp area of ​​12 communes, towns, agencies and 3 volleyball courts, on the left side was the booth displaying cultural products of Chau Thuan Commune Traditional Culture Club, next to it was the culinary culture competition area with many eye-catching dishes. The dishes were all guaranteed to be authentic to the ancient Thai people's taste and of course grilled fish and bamboo rice were indispensable. At the foot of the mountain was the crossbow shooting competition area for the girls, and outside were booths displaying products from bamboo and rattan weaving and brocade. Amidst the excited cheers, the boys and girls looked for their lovers through the rounds of throwing cones. The boy offered his new friend a piece of betel as if to say something...

Coming to the festival, one must understand the people and the scenery. Many people have entered the scenic spot Hang Bua - the cave associated with the legends of the conflict between the Mountain God (Phi-Nu-Pha-Hung) and the Water God (Phi-Nam-Huoi Ha), and the love story of Tao Khun Tinh and Lady Ni. The stalactites and strange shapes in the cave are proof of the miracles. According to Mr. Thai Manh Hung - a tourist in Tan Hoa block, Ha Huy Tap ward, Vinh city: "Hang Bua is as beautiful as Phong Nha, Thien Duong cave and it is superior in that it is warm with human warmth, because this is where our ancestors used to live; today the cave is a dating place for couples"... In front of the cave, the organizers cleverly arranged a photo exhibition with the theme of the Party and the homeland of Quy Chau, implying the continuity and honor of traditional and present values. The photo exhibition especially attracted viewers, most of whom were children. This year’s festival features hundreds of different stalls selling consumer goods and mostly food and beverage stalls. Through this festival, the Organizing Committee hopes to further promote local commercial activities.

The festival takes place for 3 days and nights from February 19 to 21, the activities are spread out so that everyone can come and join at any time. Late in the afternoon, some people go home, others come because the festival is still fun. At the camps built in the style of stilt houses, the incense of Tan Lac craft village is burned, giving off a warm aroma, people toast to each other with a cup of wine at the beginning of spring, jars of carefully brewed rice wine are brought out to treat friends who have just arrived from far away, inviting you to visit Ton That cave, Voi cave, Om cave, climb Pha Xang mountain tomorrow...

The most special and attractive part of the festival is probably always the Hang Bua beauty contest. 18 contestants in traditional costumes, all beautiful and radiant, knowledgeable about the history and culture of their homeland. Thai girls are always like that, all are beautiful in appearance, good in character, talented and hospitable. Mr. A - Lanh - Do - Vo, head of the working delegation of the Belgian Development Cooperation Organization, was invited to attend the Hang Bua Festival for the first time, and was very excited and happy to see the unique cultural and sports activities, praising the traditional dishes as well as the custom of drinking wine. He said: "This is a very interesting experience for me, helping me to know more about the country and people of Vietnam in general, Nghe An and Quy Chau in particular. In my position, I will personally promote further comprehensive cooperation between the two countries as well as contribute to the development of tourism, economy and society of Quy Chau."

In Muong Chieng Ngam, there is still an old story. The story goes: "Once upon a time, there was an extremely beautiful fairy who, while walking down to earth and passing through the Chieng Ngam mountains, was immediately enchanted by the beautiful scenery here. She was engrossed in running and jumping on the grass chasing butterflies, picking flowers, singing in the forest with birds and babblers, and playing in the stream with fish and shrimp. Immersing herself in the poetic nature, it got dark without her noticing. The door of heaven had closed tightly, leaving the little fairy in the cold night. She sat crying under Pha En mountain until she melted into the rocks of the mountain"... Perhaps the old story partly explains why Thai girls in this ancient land are so beautiful - the ancient fairy has transformed into countless mortals. And I know, Hang Bua Festival is also a “fairy” - the joy from today’s festival will be transformed into faith, determination and strength to build the homeland in each citizen; and then, even though the gate of heaven is not closed, the “fairies” do not want to leave.

Thanh Chung