The “Ban May Golden Season” Festival at Sun World Fansipan Legend tourist area is a special event, recreating the traditional rituals and activities of Lao Cai ethnic groups during the golden harvest season. Accordingly, the small and pretty Ban May hidden at the foot of Fansipan Mountain in the cable car departure area will become a place for the H'Mong Sa Pa, H'Mong Dien Bien, Xa Pho, Tay, Giay, Dao Do, Thai and Ha Nhi ethnic groups to celebrate and bring the most unique and indigenous golden harvest cultural experiences.

A unique festival every week

Until September 1, Ban May will be filled with the rich yellow color of ripe rice, beautiful with straw and fragrant corn. Especially, every weekend, a special festival of the ethnic groups living here will be held.

Specifically, on August 17 and 18, Ban May Golden Season opens with the Kho Gia Gia festival, the largest and oldest harvest festival of the Black Ha Nhi people. Held before the harvest season, this festival prays for the gods to bless a bountiful harvest. This is a rare opportunity for visitors to witness the solemn ritual performed by the Black Ha Nhi people themselves.

On the weekend of August 24-25, the Then Kin Pang festival will continue the Ban May Golden Season. According to the Thai people, "then" means "fairy" or "heavenly person", "kin" means to celebrate, "pang" means the festival or the person attending the festival. Then Kin Pang is a ritual to celebrate an adopted child, performed by a Then master to pray for favorable weather and a prosperous life. Visitors will be deeply impressed by the spiritual ritual performed, combining music, dance and acting, using traditional instruments such as the Tinh lute, drums, gongs and cymbals.

While Kho Gia Gia and Then Kin Pang are recognized as national intangible cultural heritages, the Com Moi festival has a special meaning for ethnic minorities in May village. On August 31 and September 1, visitors will experience the “early Tet”. Villagers go to the fields early in the morning, bringing the spirit of new rice home, bringing back the fruits of their labor and offerings, offering them to the gods and ancestors on the occasion of the New Rice Festival.

During the month, every corner of the village will be filled with interesting activities such as pounding rice cakes, making green rice flakes, blowing five-color sticky rice… Visitors can also participate in folk games such as pushing sticks, one-rope bridge and swing to understand why the people here love their village so much.

Extending interesting cultural experiences at Fansipan

Besides, just a 5-minute walk from May village, visitors will reach Fansipan cable car station and continue their journey to explore the roof of Indochina.

Autumn is one of the most beautiful times of the year in Sa Pa. What could be more impressive than the view from the Fansipan cable car, enjoying the masterpiece of terraced fields in the ripe rice season stretching to the horizon. The road to the top of Fansipan this season is filled with the brilliant orange-red color of Don Thoc, along with the flower flute dances and the Dao drum beats of the 2024 Don Thoc Flower Festival. If you are lucky, you will be able to admire the enchanting sea of ​​white clouds at an altitude of 3,142m. In particular, when coming to Fansipan on the occasion of September 2, visitors cannot miss the flag-raising ceremony at the highest flagpole in the country, raising pride in the hearts of Vietnamese people.

After exploring, visitors should return to May village in the evening to enjoy cuisine at a reasonable cost, only from 250,000 VND for children and 300,000 VND for adults. Enjoying delicious specialties of the ripe rice season, prepared by ethnic people in the cool autumn weather, could not be more authentic to Sa Pa.

The “Ban May Golden Season” Festival is not only an opportunity for local people to honor traditional cultural values, but also an opportunity for tourists to explore and learn more about the life, customs and cuisine of ethnic minorities in the highlands. This is truly a wonderful experience in August, especially during the September 2nd holiday, bringing deep impressions of a Sa Pa land rich in cultural identity and majestic nature.

Ngoc Minh