On February 22nd (6th day of Tet), in Cat Tien 2 commune (Lam Dong), where many Tay and Nung people live, they excitedly went to the Long Tong festival.
According to Mr. Nguyen Hoang Lich, Chairman of Cat Tien 2 Commune People's Committee, in the period 1990 - 1995, Tay and Nung people from the northern mountainous provinces came to the locality to live and start a business.
Currently, the whole commune has about 5,000 people who are Tay, Nung, Dao... Over the past 30 years, ethnic minorities have united, gradually stabilized and improved their lives.
Tong in Tay language, Nung means going down to the fields, is the ritual to open the new year in the agricultural production cycle.
The festival has profound spiritual meaning, praying for favorable weather, bumper crops, and prosperity for every household.
In recent years, the festival has been maintained to preserve the beauty of traditional culture and strengthen community cohesion.
Spring wishing and harvest praying rituals take place solemnly. Shaman performs incense offering rituals, reciting prayers, thanking the God of Agriculture, the God of Water, the God of Mountains, praying for a favorable year of production and peaceful villages.
After the ceremony, farmers lead buffaloes down to the field to plow the first plows, opening the new crop season.
The festival part took place sôi nổi with cultural and artistic activities such as then singing, luon singing and many folk games: Tet tray competition, transplanting competition, con throwing, weeding, catching ducks, tug-of-war, stilt walking.
The Tet feast attracts villages to participate with many traditional dishes elaborately prepared such as castrated chicken, pig head, five-color sticky rice, banh day, banh chung, che lam, banh tro, five-fruit tray...
Each tray of offerings is a product made by the people, offered to heaven and earth, expressing gratitude to ancestors and the wish for a prosperous new year.
The transplanting contest took place bustlingly with 21 people directly going to the field, transplanting according to regulations 18cm in rows, 16cm in trees; thousands of people standing on the bank cheering.
According to the Tay people's belief, in the Long Tong festival, if someone throws a ball through the circle hanging on the Neu tree, that year will be very lucky.
The fruits are also sewn from many colorful fabric pieces, inside containing grains, symbolizing the desire for a bumper crop. The contest took place amidst the joyful cheers of people and tourists.
The festival is a spring cultural activity, contributing to creating a joyful atmosphere, connecting the community and preserving the traditional cultural identity of ethnic minorities in the area.
