Colors of Kate Festival - the biggest festivals of the year of the Cham people

Le hoi Kate nam 2025 la mot trong nhung le hoi truyen thong quan trong nhat cua dong bao Cham theo dao Balamon o Ninh Thuan cu, nay la tinh Khanh Hoa. Su kien to chuc dinh ki tai cac diem di tich tieu bieu nhu thap Po Klong Garai, thap Po Rome, thap Po Ina Nagar... vao dau thang 7 lich Cham (thang 9 - 10 duong lich hang nam). Nam nay, lan dau sau khi tinh Khanh Hoa sap nhap tinh Ninh Thuan, le hoi Kate dien ra 3 ngay (20-22.10).

The 2025 Kate Festival is one of the most important traditional festivals of the Cham people following the Balamon faith in the former Ninh Thuan, now Khanh Hoa province. The event is held periodically at typical relic sites such as Po Klong Garai tower, Po Rome tower, Po Ina Nagar tower... in early July of the lunar calendar (September - October of the lunar calendar every year). This year, in addition to the festival taking place on October 20 - 22, the festival will last from October 17 - 23 with experiences in cultural spaces, exhibitions, cuisine, and folk games.

Le Luong Phong (35 tuoi) la mot nguoi dan dia phuong, anh chia se da tham gia le hoi va chup anh tai day trong 5 nam qua. Nam 2025, le hoi Kate theo anh co quy mo lon nhat tu truoc den nay, thu hut dong dao nguoi dan du khach ve du. Nam nay, anh Phong chup anh tai hai noi la le hoi Kate tai thap Po Klong Garai va Le ruoc y trang Po Ina Nagar o lang Huu Duc.

Le Luong Phong (35 years old) is a local resident, having attended the festival and taken photos here for the past 5 years. In 2025, the Kate festival, according to him, will be the largest ever, attracting a large number of people and tourists to attend. This year, Mr. Phong took photos at two places: the Kate festival at Po Klong Garai tower and the Po Ina Nagar Medical Rally in Huu Duc village.

Le hoi Kate la dip nguoi Cham tuong nho to tien, ton vinh cac vi vua than hoa nhu Po Klong Garai, Po Rome. Khong chi vay day cung la luc ho the hien sac mau van hoa truyen thong dac sac cua minh qua am nhac, dieu mua, trang phuc, ngon ngu va tin nguong dan gian.

The Kate Festival is an occasion for Cham people to remember their ancestors and honor the thanlized kings such as Po Klong Garai and Po Rome. Not only that, this is also the time for them to express their unique traditional cultural colors through music, dance, costumes, language and folk beliefs.

Tuy tung noi ma le hoi Kate keo dai tu 3 toi 5 ngay, thu hut hang nghin nguoi toi du. Nguoi Cham coi le hoi Kate nhu Tet Cha, doi lap voi le Roya la Tet Me.

Depending on the place, the Kate festival lasts from 3 to 5 days, attracting thousands of visitors. Cham people consider the Kate festival as Father's Day, opposite to the Roya festival as Mother's Day.

Da duoc cong nhan la Di san van hoa phi vat the quoc gia cua Viet Nam, le hoi Kate moi nam cang duoc chu trong gin giu va dau tu hon ve quy mo. Do khong chi la cong tac bao ton di san dan toc thieu so ma con giup thuc day du lich van hoa, phat trien kinh te dia phuong.

Recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Vietnam, the Kate Festival is increasingly focused on preserving and investing in scale each year. It is not only about preserving ethnic minority heritage but also helps promote cultural tourism and develop the local economy.

Dong nguoi tu dan dia phuong, du khach khap cac vung do ve de tham gia le hoi lon nhat nam cua nguoi Cham Balamon.

People from local people and tourists from all over the region flocked to participate in the biggest festival of the Cham Balamon people.

Nhu nhieu le hoi khac, Kate cung gom 2 phan le va hoi. Le duoc dien ra trang nghiem voi nghi thuc ruoc kieu, tam tuong than, cung te trong cac thap Cham co...

Like many other festivals, Kate also has two parts: a ceremony and a festival. The ceremony took place solemnly with the rituals of rising in the rain, bathing in statues of idols, and offering in the ancient Cham towers...

Nhung co gai Cham theo doan dang le vat trong le hoi Kate len cac thap co.

Cham girls follow the group to offer offer offerings during the Kate festival to the ancient towers.

Anh Phong chia se, hang nam anh theo doi thong tin lich trinh to chuc le hoi de sap xep lich ca nhan co them thoi gian di chup anh, tham gia le Kate. Sau phan le o cac thap Cham co, nguoi dan cung to chuc le cung tai gia dinh. Theo anh, neu co quen nguoi Cham, ho con moi ve nha an uong sau le nhu an Tet cua nguoi Kinh vay.

Mr. Phong shared that every year he follows the information about the festival schedule to arrange a personal schedule to have more time to take photos and participate in the Kate ceremony. After the ceremony at the ancient Cham towers, people also held the ceremony at home. According to him, if they are familiar with Cham people, they can also invite them home to eat after the festival like the Kinh people's Tet holiday.

Le vat ba con nguoi Cham Balamon dang len than tai thap trong phan le cung.

The offering of the Cham Balam people was offered to the god at the tower during the offering ceremony.

Phan hoi soi dong voi cac man trinh dien mua hat, bieu dien trong, chieng, ken, cac tro choi dan gian... hap dan du khach phuong xa toi trai nghiem. Noi bat co nhieu dac san cua nguoi Cham se duoc chuan bi de thet dai nhu banh tet la chuoi, thit nuong, ruou can...

The festival is vibrant with performances of singing and dancing, drum, gong, flute, folk games... attracting visitors from all over to experience. Notable are many Cham specialties that will be prepared for Tet such as banana leaf banh tet, grilled meat, celery...