1. Some details about Hoa ban Festival - Dien Bien
What month is Hoa Ban Festival held?
In March, when the cold weather of winter gradually melts away, the warm breath of spring fills the earth and sky, it is also the time when the banyan flowers bloom throughout the mountains and forests of the Northwest. Flowers bloom the most in Dien Bien province, especially the districts of Muong Ang, Dien Bien, Dien Bien Dong, Tua Chua... Walk along the mountains and forests, through the roads leading to Dien Bien Phu city or small paths Coming to the villages, visitors can see rows of blooming banyan flowers, immersed in the bright sunlight of heaven and earth. White bunches of banyan trees covered the entire valley, then climbed up high and floated like clouds across the mountain top. Whether growing on a hill of dry grass or clinging to a steep cliff, this flower still carries within it a strong vitality with a beauty that fascinates people. It is a perfect, full beauty, a brilliant beauty that is rustic, humble, wild but no less delicate and seductive.
The story of the Flower Festival
The legend of the ban flower is associated with a tragic but profound love story in the ancient story of the Thai ethnic people in the Northwest region. The story goes: Once upon a time, there was a beautiful Thai girl named Ban, who fell in love with a poor boy in the same village but was forbidden by her parents and forced her to marry him to a rich family. Sad and miserable, she ran into the forest to find her lover, but she called out hoarsely but could not see any sign of him. After crossing a high mountain range, she was exhausted and collapsed next to a rock. Where she lay down, a flower tree grew with white buds like the buds of a girl's hand. And soon, that flower spread throughout the Northwest mountains and forests. People named that flower the ban flower. For many generations, ban flowers have entered the cultural and spiritual life of the people of the Northwest region.
The meaning of Hoa ban festival
With the purpose of honoring and praising the beauty of ban flowers, affirming the value and position of ban flowers in the cultural and spiritual life of ethnic groups in Dien Bien, since 2014, Dien Bien province has organized this annual event. Ban flower festival takes place in March - the blooming season of ban flowers. The festival is an opportunity to promote the beauty and unique traditional cultural values of the community of 19 ethnic groups in Dien Bien province to domestic and international tourists and friends. Thereby preserving and developing typical types of national cultural heritage; turn heritage values into internal resources to promote tourism; Connect with other potentials and strengths to contribute to the socio-economic development of Dien Bien province.
Hoa ban festival contains the typical spiritual cultural beauty in the spiritual life of the Thai ethnic people with rituals to worship "Then" - the supreme deity in the ranks of gods according to the people's concept. Thai; to worship "Miss Ban" - a legendary female character who represents the virginity of Thai girls and the faithful love of couples; Pray to heaven ghosts, Muong ghosts, mountain ghosts, river ghosts... to bless good weather, lush crops, all things blooming and bearing fruit, happy couples and the lives of the villagers. warm, peaceful and happy.
2. Rituals of Hoa Ban Festival
Ceremony
To open the Flower Festival - Muong Lo, Thai ethnic people will bring offerings to Tham Le cave to make offerings. The offerings include a pig, a few branches of banyan flowers, a bottle of wine, two bowls of plain rice, two bowls of white rice, a few sticks of incense and betel and areca nuts. The person performing the ceremony is the teacher, the teacher prays prayers to the cave god and forest god, praying for the people to have a prosperous and prosperous life.
Association section
After completing the ceremony, there will be a festival where people can join together in the vibrant and jubilant atmosphere. Young men and women play together at the flower picking festival, enthusiastically participating in unique performances. The sounds of people shouting and laughing, the sounds of pipes and flutes mixed with the sounds of drums and gongs were extremely noisy. Boys play the flute, girls hum shyly, dance Tham Le dances - a dance reserved for when picking flowers.
