Happy New Rice Festival with Xo Dang ethnic people

On the first day of the new year 2024, a large number of people and tourists gathered at the Hring village community cultural house to participate in the festival.

In preparation for the New Rice Festival, in recent days, people in Hring village, Ea H'ding commune have cleaned their houses, erected poles, and prepared ingredients to make traditional dishes. Every household contributes, with specific assignments from brewing rice wine, practicing performing arts, grilling bamboo rice, butchering pork, etc.

In the community house, a pole is placed in the middle of the yard, with offerings displayed underneath. When the gong sounds to welcome guests, people and visitors gather in the yard of the community house to attend the ceremony. After the offerings are prepared, the village elder performs the worship ritual, thanks heaven and earth, and invites gods, ancestors, and grandparents to attend. The village elder's prayer includes the hope that next year the rice will grow as beautifully as the grass in the forest, as green as sugarcane in the garden, the wind and rain will be favorable, everyone will be healthy, every family will be happy, the trees will sprout, the crops will be lush and bountiful, all things will grow and flourish, the country will be peaceful, the people will be warm and happy, and children will study well...

After the ceremony, the village elder served wine as an appetizer, inviting locals and visitors to enjoy wine and traditional dishes. The festival also began with many special performances such as traditional musical instrument performances, and the locals and visitors dancing xoang...

Mr. Joang Chă, Secretary of the Hring Hamlet Party Cell, said that the Xo Dang people came to the fertile land of Ea H'ding Commune to establish a new hamlet, build and develop their lives in 1988. In the past, the New Rice Festival of the Xo Dang people was only held in each family, from one house to another, lasting from October to December of the solar calendar. Since 1994, the New Rice Festival has become a big festival, held in the whole hamlet community and only held on one day of the New Year, January 1. Every family prepares dishes, brings them to the community hall to enjoy together.

The New Rice Festival aims to preserve the fine customs and traditions of the Xo Dang people. It is an important activity in the spiritual life of the Xo Dang people to thank the gods for blessing them with a bountiful harvest. The festival is an opportunity for people to sit together to review a year of hard work, exchange production experiences and wish each other good health, happiness and bountiful harvests in the new year.

Present at the Hring village community cultural house, Ms. H'Ben Mlo, Jok village, Ea Hding commune, said that the Ede and Xo Dang ethnic groups have many cultural similarities. Since childhood, she has participated in the New Rice Festival in Hring village. Up to now, every New Year's Day, she and her family are excited to participate in the Festival. Not only the Xo Dang ethnic group, but also other ethnic groups gather to celebrate the festival, wish each other good health, and strive to maintain the unique traditional cultural features of the ethnic groups.

On the first day of the new year 2024, amidst the bustling sound of gongs and cymbals, the New Rice Festival of the Xo Dang people in Hring village, Ea H'ding commune, Cu M'gar district, Dak Lak province attracted a large number of tourists from near and far to join in the fun. The bustling atmosphere and warm solidarity made the people and tourists excited and hopeful for the new year.

Mr. Tran Thanh, a tourist from Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak province, said that on the first day of the new year, he and his family and friends went to the village to attend the festival. He was very excited, feeling that a new spring had come. Mr. Thanh's group wanted to experience the activities at the festival in order to become a twin with the village and support the village in social security activities in the future.

According to Ms. Duong Ha, a tourist from Da Nang city, she was very happy to participate in the Festival and make bamboo rice and grill meat with the people of Hring village. Ms. Ha was quite surprised because the Festival attracted a large number of people and tourists to participate. What impressed her was the community element at the Festival, where people all contributed their efforts and participated in the activities, demonstrating that they are cultural subjects.

Ea H'ding commune currently has 13 ethnic groups living together, of which ethnic minorities account for about 70% of the commune's population. Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ea H'ding commune (Cu M'gar district, Dak Lak province) Y Rin Nie said that the people in the commune live in solidarity, help each other and make efforts to preserve and conserve the ethnic cultural identity. Over the years, the commune has paid attention to, created conditions, supported and promoted the restoration and maintenance of traditional cultural identity, including the New Rice Offering Ceremony of the Xo Dang people. After 30 years of regular organization, the New Rice Festival of the Xo Dang people has become a common festival of the people of all ethnic groups in the commune. Through the Festival, it not only contributes to preserving and promoting traditional cultural values ​​but also connects the community and strengthens the great national unity bloc.