Unique Gau Tao festival
Gau Tao Festival in Hang Kia - Pa Co communes is a traditional folk festival and a long-standing cultural and religious activity of the H'Mong people in Mai Chau, Hoa Binh.
Every year, the festival is held on a large scale to contribute to preserving and promoting the cultural values of local ethnic groups. The 2025 Gau Tao Festival of the H'Mong ethnic group will be held at the district level, inviting a number of neighboring communes to participate. It will take place over 3 days, from January 10 to 12, 2025 at Xa Linh stadium, Pa Co commune, Mai Chau district.
The Gau Tao Festival is associated with the folk legend of the Hmong people. Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Ma Seo Vang - a respected elder of the Hmong village in Pa Co, said: "According to legend, any Hmong couple who have been married for many years without good news and want to have a child as desired, the husband will go to a certain hill to pray to the hill god, the mountain god to bless the family."
According to Mr. Vang, the Gau Tao festival was originally meant as a ritual to thank the gods and bless the many children and grandchildren. The festival has now developed into a major festival of the H'Mong ethnic group in the Northwest. The festival has become a community event, where the H'Mong people pray for a bountiful harvest, good health for everyone, and happy families.
“Gau Tao” in Hmong means “outdoor play”. The festival is divided into two parts, including the ceremony and the festival.
The first activity in the ceremony is to erect the pole. The pole is planted on a large, flat piece of land, symbolizing stability and the center of heaven and earth. The pole must be intact, not broken or truncated, that is, the tree must be continuous from root to tip. The pole's top always faces the East, the direction of birth with the wish to have children, and also the direction of the sun with the hope of a bountiful harvest.
The ceremony to worship the tree includes offerings such as chicken, wine, rice, paper... The celebrant lights incense, burns votive paper money, then walks counterclockwise three times around the tree, then walks counterclockwise three more times and sings the song "Tinh chay" with the wish that the gods will bless the villagers with peace and happiness, a new year with a bountiful harvest, favorable weather, and that everyone and every family will be happy, healthy, prosperous, have good livestock, and have a good harvest.
After the ceremony is the festival with folk art performances, sports activities and traditional games associated with the daily life of the Mong people such as Khen dancing, neo pao, pounding rice cake... The folk games attract a large number of tourists and locals to participate, creating a joyful and bustling atmosphere.
Boys, girls, old people and children in the Mong village hold hands and dance in a circle to the rhythm of the trumpet. In Mong culture, the trumpet represents spirituality and traditional beliefs, and is a sacred object in festival rituals. This is also an opportunity for young men and women to show off their talents and it is also a place for them to meet, confide and find happiness for themselves.
Coming to Gau Tao festival, in addition to enjoying unique art programs imbued with cultural identity, H'Mong people also bring here special agricultural products of craft villages, cooperatives, and production facilities to introduce and sell to tourists.
Ms. Bui Thuy Linh (27 years old, tourist) shared: “Gau Tao Festival is truly a place to strengthen the solidarity of the village community. In particular, every tourist coming to the festival can experience the warm and sincere feelings of the H'Mong ethnic people in the two communes of Hang Kia and Pa Co”.
Every year, the Gau Tao festival lasts for about 3-5 days and then ends. When the festival ends, people return to their normal lives, but the echoes of Gau Tao still resound in the hearts of the people. The lyrics and singing seem to convey many nostalgic feelings and wishes for the beginning of Spring.
Preserving culture and developing tourism
To affirm its historical, cultural and scientific value as well as the need to protect and promote this heritage, the Gau Tao festival of the H'Mong ethnic group was included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in December 2012.
Mr. Ngan Van Tuan, Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Mai Chau district said: "With the aim of preserving, restoring and promoting the traditional beauty of the Mong ethnic people in the area, since 2017, the Gau Tao festival has been restored with the anticipation and excitement of not only the people of Hang Kia - Pa Co communes but also attracting many people from neighboring areas to experience and explore".
According to Mr. Ngo Thanh Tung - Deputy Director of Tay Bac Media and Tourism Company, Mai Chau district has many strengths in natural conditions and climate with the unique characteristics of the Northwest climate, cool all year round, wild and majestic natural landscapes, is an attractive destination for tourists and is a place where many cultural activities and traditional festivals of ethnic minorities in the highlands converge.
“The annual Gau Tao festival is organized with the desire to turn the festival into a unique tourism product, contributing to maintaining and developing the traditional cultural values of the Mong ethnic group in Mai Chau district.The festival promises to bring interesting experiences to visitors in early spring” - Mr. Tung commented.
The Gau Tao festival has partly demonstrated the unique cultural identity of the H'Mong ethnic group in Hoa Binh.When asked, all the people in Hang Kia - Pa Co expressed their pride in the traditional festival of their people.The organization of the festival has enhanced the promotion and introduction of the history, culture and tourism potential of the two communes of Hang Kia - Pa Co to domestic and international tourists.
