Hoa Binh’s Khai Ha festival thrills visitors

The 2023 Khai ha (going down to the field) festival, the biggest traditional folk event of the Muong ethnic group in the northwestern province of Hoa Binh, took place at the provincial level for the first time from January 27 – 29 (the sixth to eighth day of the lunar new year).

The enticing festival featured a series of cultural, art, sport activities, and folk games, including a Muong Bi night market, Muong ethnic costume fashion show, musical exchange, and demonstrations of traditional crafts, among many others.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Bui Van Khanh said the annual event, preserved by local people, embodies many traditional, cultural and historical values and attracts a large number of locals and tourists.

In 2022, the Khai ha festival of the Muong people in Tan Lac, Lac Son, Cao Phong, and Kim Boi district was recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage.

The festival, also dubbed as the ploughing or forest opening festival, has connection with the wet rice cultivation which carries a sign of civilisation of the ancient Vietnamese. It has become an indispensable cultural activity of the Muong people in the new year.

Khai ha in each Muong region takes place at different times and places. Each site is associated with the history of the gods meriting the land and the ethnic community.