The custom of avoiding wind is a long-standing custom of the Dao people living in Hoanh Mo commune, Quang Ninh province.
The festival is held on the 4th day of the 4th lunar month every year and has long become a typical cultural event, attracting a large number of people and tourists to participate in experiencing.
According to the folk beliefs of the Dao people, on the wind-avoidance day, everyone will leave the house early in the morning to let the Wind God enter the house, sweeping away bad luck and worries of the old year, bringing peace, luck and prosperity for the new year.
On this day, people temporarily put aside their daily work, release buffaloes into the forest and go to the market together, meet friends and relatives.
The Dao people call this activity "mì sèng phẩy hêy dảo", meaning "going to the market on April 4th".
At the end of 2024, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism included the "Vientoure Custom of the Dao people" in Dong Van commune, Binh Lieu district, Quang Ninh province (now Hoanh Mo commune, Quang Ninh province) in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Mr. Vi Ngoc Nhat, Head of the Culture and Social Department of Hoanh Mo commune - said that the Kien Gio Festival is a cultural feature associated with agricultural beliefs, spiritual life and folk knowledge of the Dao people. The locality is orienting the development of Kien Gio Festival into a community tourism product imbued with the unique identity of the border region.
According to the plan, the Hoanh Mo Commune Wind Restriction Day 2026 will take place in 2 days, from May 19-20, with many unique cultural, sports and tourism activities.
Within the framework of the program, activities will take place to introduce Cao Ba Lanh provincial-level historical, cultural and scenic relics; recognize 26 Vietnamese Heritage trees; organize pho stir-frying contests and many folk games, traditional cultural experience activities.
The highlight of the Kien Gio Festival is an art program recreating the traditional cultural life of ethnic minorities in the area.
The program has the participation of an art troupe from Fangcheng Zone (Fangchenggang city, Guangxi province, China), contributing to strengthening cultural exchange and tightening solidarity between people in border areas.
The development of community tourism products from the Kiêng gió custom not only contributes to preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values of the Dao people but also creates livelihoods and promotes socio-economic development in the locality.
