Hau Doong festival enhances culture of Giay ethnic group

Therefore, Giay ethnic people organize the annual Hau Doong festivals with the aims of boosting community cohesion and environmental protection, especially forest preservation, to foster ecological sustainability.

The Hau Doong festival of Giay ethnic group festival features various rituals and festive activities. The opening and the forest worshiping ceremonies take place under a huge tree inside the forbidden forest of Nam Loong I village, Quyet Thang ward.

Local residents and visitors participate in the folk games of the Giay ethnic minority people, such as crossbow shooting, cake pounding and noodle cutting contests, tug-of-war, sack jumping, blindfolded gong beating, and blindfolded duck catching.

The Giay people mainly live in the provinces of Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Lai Chau and Yen Bai. The Giay ethnic people in Lai Chau province are found in each of the province’s eight districts and city and total about 14,000 in number.

The Giay also worship the forest god and the village god. Traces of the primitive religion are still present in the spiritual life of the Giay. The form of totem worship is still seen in this ethnic group. Each family worships a different animal and the worshiping ritual also follows the features of that animal.

According to Mr. Tran Dinh Tien, Vice Chairman of the Lai Chau Municipal People's Committee, in recent years, the province has enhanced the preservation, development, and promotion of the culture of the ethnic minorities in general and the Giay people in particular.

In particular, local authorities have launched various projects to mobilize its resources to invest, exploit, and bring into full play traditional cultural values, and develop tourism for socio-economic growth.