A festival connecting souls.

(Baonghean) - On a day when the village held a great solidarity festival, the circle dances transported me to a different world, even though throughout my childhood I had experienced them in spring festivals, weddings, and housewarming celebrations…

It's the second cold spell of the year. The chill evokes a longing for a home with a warm fireplace. That's my personal feeling as I drive down the road to Cong village in Cam Lam commune (Con Cuong district). I went to the village following a tip from Mr. Nguyen Le Loi, Chairman of the Fatherland Front of the district, that this year, Cong village was chosen as the first place to organize the National Unity Day. It's only the beginning of November, but the National Unity Day festivities in Con Cuong have already started.

The Great Unity Festival is truly a festival for the people of Cong village.

Ban Cong village is located on the left bank of the Lam River. In the past, it was separated by a ferry crossing. For over 10 years now, a sturdy suspension bridge has been built across, solving the transportation problem. The bridge connects the border commune of Chau Khe with Cam Lam commune. Crossing the bridge to the left bank leads to Ban Cong village. Right at the beginning of the bridge are two ancient banyan trees with lush branches and leaves, easily five hundred years old.

Cam Lam land is perhaps the area that best preserves the pristine characteristics of the Thai people in Con Cuong. Besides the two banyan trees on the banks of the Lam River, the commune also has an ancient persimmon tree, a very noticeable feature of traditional Thai communities. Each village has its own ancient tree. Beneath each ancient tree is a simple shrine erected whenever the village holds a ceremony on the 20th day of the 8th lunar month.

Xoe dance during the National Unity Day celebration.

The local authorities chose the sports field next to the commune office as the venue for the festival. After just a few announcements over the loudspeaker, the people of Cong village flocked in. The women wore Thai-style skirts, blouses with butterfly-shaped buttons, and embroidered headscarves. Most striking were the women in the performing arts group. Besides their embroidered skirts, blouses, and scarves, they also carried small baskets on their backs. In recent years, farming tools like baskets, pestles, winnowing trays, and sieves have become props for performing arts. They are specially woven and decorated with colorful paper, making them very eye-catching.

So, besides the rice mortar used in the furrow-carving performance, many other farming tools of the highland people have become props for artistic performances. It may sound like a big deal, but in reality, art often originates from things that were originally purely tools of labor.

In Cong village, as in other villages in Cam Lam commune, it's not difficult to find ancient gongs and drums. Normally, the villagers are accustomed to farming and working in the fields. But when they attend a festival, they suddenly transform into true artists. Without being told, as soon as the gongs and drums begin to play, people spontaneously join the dance circle. Even before the jar of rice wine in the center of the circle is opened, people are already intoxicated by the graceful, almost magical, dance movements.

Snake catching game

I joined in the dancing too. All barriers seemed to disappear. People who had never met before suddenly became friends. In that joyful gathering, I met an old friend from my childhood, a carefree young boy roaming the mountains. My friend from those days is now the mother of two boys in high school. She told me about her life in the village, working in the fields, which, although somewhat hard, provided she had enough to eat and wear because she was diligent.

Judging by the confidence in your eyes, I know it's just a humble way of speaking, typical of people from the village. Dressed in traditional Thai women's attire with a headscarf covering half your face, you still seem to retain some of your former charm.

I left the dance circle and a thought suddenly came to mind. Since leaving the heavenly realm and descending to the lowlands, Then had allowed the Thai people to bring with them the Xoe dances not only to bring joy to the village. These dances, an invisible and unintentional thread, were a strange kind of glue, binding distant souls together.

During the village festival, unexpectedly, those familiar dance circles suddenly transformed into a small stream. It swept me away, but in an indescribable joy.

HỮU VI