Peach blossom festival in Long Luong commune, Van Ho district took place at Pa Kha village stadium.

Although the weather was cold below 8 degrees Celsius and there was thick fog, from early morning, many people from the villages of Long Luong commune were present at the Pa Kha village stadium to decorate the tents, light the fire, cook sticky rice, and prepare tools to pound rice cakes. At 9 am, the fog began to gradually dissipate, the peach blossoms in the tents gradually appeared after the thin layer of fog, the hot sticky rice pots rose up, the aroma of new sticky rice was fragrant, the cultural space gradually became vibrant, attracting tourists to visit and experience.

Cultural camp space at the festival.

Co Tang villagers arrange and display agricultural products at the cultural booth.

Booth displaying ethnic costumes of Co Long village at the festival.

Comrade Giang A Dua, Party Cell Secretary, Head of Co Long Village, shared: Coming to the Peach Blossom Festival this year, we have prepared a peach blossom tree with a dome-shaped flower to decorate the camp gate area. In the camp, we display linen, traditional costumes, panpipes, agricultural tools and vegetables, tubers and fruits grown by the villagers. With the desire to introduce the identity, culture, people, and achievements of the Mong ethnic group to visitors from near and far. The festival is also an opportunity for the villagers to enjoy the first days of the new year, contributing to creating solidarity and connection among the villagers.

San Cai villagers prepare sticky rice for the rice cake pounding competition.

The activity that attracted a large number of people and tourists to experience was the rice cake pounding competition with the participation of 9 teams from villages in the commune. The cheers and encouragement of the audience and tourists were accompanied by the pounding rhythm of the teams. After only about 10 minutes, the delicious, soft, smooth, and round rice cakes were completed for display and passed on to visitors to enjoy.

Rice cake pounding competition at the festival.

Teams decorate rice cakes at the festival.

Many people and tourists came to watch and cheer for the teams.

Mr. Mua A Canh, from the Pa Kha Banh Day pounding team, shared: Pounding rice cakes must be done quickly and with technique. If you do not pound quickly and decisively, the pestle will stick to the sticky rice, making it difficult to lift and losing strength, and the sticky rice will not be soft and smooth. When pounding, pound gently at first so that the sticky rice blends and sticks; then, you must use all your strength to pound continuously until the sticky rice is soft and smooth, ready to be used to make cakes. The more you pound, the more sticky and delicious the cakes will be and the longer they will last. This is also a traditional activity of the Mong ethnic group during the New Year and spring.

The judges marked the rice cake pounding and display contest.

Tourists experience making rice cakes.

Within the framework of the festival, there are also many attractive sports and folk games, such as: Tug of war, pa pao throwing, bamboo jumping... with the participation of hundreds of athletes from the villages. Each competition brings a vibrant and exciting atmosphere. In addition, the festival also has culinary and art competitions. In the art competition, each team performs 3 acts with the genres of singing, dancing, and music, which are elaborately staged, invested in both content and costumes, recreating the life of the Mong people, traditional occupations, love, and praise for the homeland and country. The activities have contributed to introducing a vivid picture of the life and unique cultural features of the Mong people in Long Luong to visitors from near and far.

Experience bamboo dancing at the festival.

Experience pa pao throwing at the festival.

Experiencing the cultural space at the festival, Ms. Nguyen Thi Men, a tourist from Phu Tho province, was excited: This is the first time I and my friends have come to Long Luong commune, Van Ho district. It is fortunate that the commune is holding the peach blossom festival. The scenery here is very beautiful, the air is fresh, participating in folk games, learning about the customs and practices of the Mong ethnic group makes us extremely impressed and excited. I find the ethnic people here friendly, hospitable, and united. I will definitely come back here with my relatives and friends in the near future.

Tourists visit and experience cultural booths.

The Long Luong peach blossom festival was first held in 2018 and is maintained annually, aiming to preserve and promote the fine traditional cultural values ​​of the Mong ethnic group and to honor, promote and introduce the beauty of the peach blossom scenery of Long Luong commune, attracting domestic and international tourists to experience.

Talking to us, Mr. Tenh A Chia, Secretary of the Party Committee of Long Luong commune, said: Over the years, the Mong ethnic people of Long Luong commune have still preserved traditional cultural features such as traditional festivals, house architecture, costumes, folk songs, folk dances, musical instruments, and cuisine. In addition, the Party Committee and the commune government have promoted and mobilized people to grow peach trees associated with the development of eco-tourism. Up to now, the whole commune has more than 500 hectares of peach growing area. Peach trees not only bring income to people from harvesting fruit and selling peach branches, but are also an attractive place for tourists to "check in" to capture beautiful moments every time Tet comes and spring comes. Every year, the commune organizes a peach blossom festival with many unique activities to introduce and promote the image of peach blossoms, people and land imbued with the Mong ethnic identity.

Mong ethnic girls dressed up to participate in the festival.

Art performance of Co Cham village at the festival.

The bustling, bustling scene, the colorful traditional costumes, all have created a very unique Peach Blossom Festival for tourists from all over the world with a unique cultural feature that is rarely found anywhere else. Besides promoting and introducing local peach blossom products, the festival is also one of the activities to promote the image and cultural beauty of ethnic groups in Van Ho district to domestic and foreign tourists.

According to: Son La Newspaper