When the pink peach blossoms are just beginning to bud on the hillsides, and the last chill of winter still lingers on the wooden roofs, the Hmong people in Ta So village are already bustling with preparations for Tet (Lunar New Year). Here, they celebrate their traditional Tet in the last days of November according to the lunar calendar, one month earlier than the Lunar New Year.

Families are cleaning their yards and gardens, tidying up their ancestral altars, and preparing food and provisions to welcome the traditional Lunar New Year with joy and hope for a more prosperous and happy life in the new year.

As Tet (Vietnamese New Year) approaches, everyone has their own tasks. The Hmong people prepare for Tet very meticulously. Women carefully complete new clothes for everyone in the family to wear. Indigo, red, green, and yellow colors blend together to create vibrant patterns. Children eagerly await wearing their new clothes. Men prepare to slaughter pigs and chickens, and prepare offerings for the ancestral worship ceremony. On the Hmong ancestral altar, sticky rice cakes are the soul of Tet. Pairs of round, white cakes, pounded from freshly harvested, sticky rice, symbolize the moon and the sun, the source of all things. Making sticky rice cakes is therefore not just a kitchen task, but also a ritual expressing hopes for a bountiful harvest and family reunion.

For the Hmong people, the first crowing of a rooster in the early morning marks the beginning of a new year. Mua A Di (born in 1980, residing in Ta So village, Moc Chau ward, Son La province) shared: “The Hmong people don't believe they have to wait until the night of the 30th to enter the new year. Families can celebrate Tet on the 27th, 28th, 29th, or 30th of the 11th lunar month. The next day, when the rooster crows, it marks the first moments of the new year, and they consider that the first day of Tet.”

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the men in the family usually wake up earlier than everyone else. They will take care of lighting the fire, cooking rice, and tending to the livestock. After they have completed these important household chores, the women will wake up to collect the cleanest water for use. Ms. Song Y Hoa (born in 1993, residing in Ta So Village, Moc Chau Ward, Son La Province) shared: “Bringing clean water home to celebrate the New Year is our traditional ritual. Through this, we express our wish for all family members to be healthy and lucky in the new year.” At the same time, during the three main days of Tet, every family burns firewood, keeping the hearth burning continuously, both to keep warm and to ward off evil spirits, and to pray for peace and prosperity.

Another unique aspect of the Hmong New Year tradition is the custom of pasting paper onto farming tools and placing them under the altar. The Hmong believe that "all things have spirits." The plows, hoes, and knives that have worked alongside people all year also need a "rest during Tet." Mua A Pha (born in 1980, residing in Ta So village, Moc Chau ward, Son La province) shared: "The farming tools also get a rest to prepare for a new year of productive work and a better harvest than the previous year."

During the Lunar New Year celebrations, amidst the vast expanse of plum blossoms, apricot blossoms, and delicate peach blossoms, the flowing dresses of Hmong girls stand out like forest butterflies. The melodious sound of the Hmong flute and the jingling of silver coins on their clothing, accompanying their footsteps as they stroll through the spring festivities, create a characteristic festive atmosphere of the highlands. Traditional folk games serve both as a celebration of spring and a space for meeting and making friends. Young men and women in the village gather to play pao throwing, badminton, spinning tops, playing the Hmong flute, dancing with umbrellas, stick pushing, tug-of-war, and archery... Many Hmong marriages begin at these lively spring festivals.

Notably, in recent years, Ta So village has been selected for community tourism development, giving tourists the opportunity to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the traditional Mong New Year. This development brings new opportunities while also requiring the preservation of cultural identity. Many young Mong people today are more aware of the value of their ethnic customs. They learn to play the khene (a traditional wind instrument), sew skirts, organize traditional games, and introduce their local culture to tourists as a way to affirm their culture and express their pride in their ethnic identity.

Therefore, the traditional New Year of the Hmong people is not only a reunion after the harvest season, but also an occasion to remember their roots. In the crowing of roosters at dawn, in the smoke from the hearth warming the house, in the rhythmic sound of the flute echoing across the hillsides, the spring of the Hmong people remains persistently present, simple yet profound, amidst the vast forests of Northwest Vietnam.