Every year in March to April of the lunar calendar, the Thai ethnic people in Sop Cop border commune organize the Cau Mua Festival, also known as the "Xen Ban, Xen Muong" festival to commemorate the village makers, praying for favorable weather, bumper crops, and peace for the people.
The worship ceremony is held at the grandmother's and grandfather's temples in Sop Cop village. This is a long-standing spiritual cultural activity, closely associated with the lives of the Thai people in the border area.
The ceremony part takes place in 2 days with traditional rituals such as "chung ty" at Ba Temple, with offerings such as pigs, chickens, and fruits. The "chung lac man" ritual takes place at Ong Temple, offerings include pigs, chickens, white wine, fruits and a sacrificial buffalo, offered to the tutelary god to pray for peace and prosperity in the village, healthy people, and good harvests.
According to the beliefs of the Thai people, Ong's temple worships the two brothers Tong Hinh and Tong Hoi, who contributed to establishing the village and hamlet. Ba's temple worships the female goddesses who contributed to preserving the village and protecting the peaceful village. The two temples are nearly 300m apart and have been restored and built spaciously by the people and local authorities in recent years.
Mr. Lo Van Dien - the person performing the worship ceremony, shared: "The festival has been around for a long time, organized annually by the village preparing offerings. Up to now, the commune has paid more attention to organizing it on a larger scale, praying for the gods to bless the people with health, luck, good harvests, and peaceful villages".
During the festival, people abstain from carrying loads on their shoulders, not cutting down trees, taking firewood or going into the forest to show respect for the gods and pray for harmony with nature, Mr. Dien added.
Right after the ceremony part is the exciting atmosphere of the festival part with many folk games and traditional sports activities such as catching fish, throwing con, blindfolded catching ducks, tug-of-war, tó mák lẹ, solidarity bow... attracting a large number of people and tourists to participate.
The People's Committee of Sop Cop commune also organized a cultural exchange night with folk songs and folk dances praising the homeland, country, and people of the border region. Many booths displaying typical local agricultural products were introduced to tourists.
Mr. Nguyen Van Manh said: "The Cau Mua festival is a traditional cultural feature that the Thai people have preserved for many generations. The locality is continuing to plan to maintain and preserve temples, and at the same time gradually link the festival with community tourism development".
Participating in the festival for the first time, Mr. Tran Tien Hoc expressed his impression of the friendliness and hospitality of the local people. "The festival atmosphere is very joyful, imbued with cultural identity. I hope to have the opportunity to return to continue experiencing it" - Mr. Hoc shared.
The Cau Mua festival is not only an opportunity for the Thai Sop Cop people to send their wishes for a prosperous and peaceful life, but also contributes to preserving and spreading the unique traditional cultural values of the border land.
