HÀ NỘI — Hanoians will soon get a chance to experience ethnic Mông people’s traditional New Year dances and games.

The programme Xyoo Tshiab Nram Nroog (The Mông’s New Year Celebrated in the City) will take place on Sunday at the Hà Nội University of Culture.

The annual event has been organised by the Action for Mông Development group and partners to promote the unique culture of the Mông.

It also provides a chance for Mông people living far from home to enjoy their traditional celebrations and to preserve their culture, according to Má A Lầu, member of the organising board.

Various activities will take place including music performances, dancing, game and a fair where goods and specialites of the Mông will be sold.

Participants will have a chance to try on traditional costumes of the Mông as well as enjoy delicious food such as bánh dầy (packed sticky rice with meat or bean fillings wrapped in banana leaves) and mèn mén (steamed minced maize).

A cultural space of the Mông will feature music from pan pipe, bamboo flute and Jew’s harp.

Unlike the Lunar New Year of the Kinh majority which falls on the first day of the first lunar month, New Year’s Eve of the Mông falls on the first day of the December in the lunar calendar. The celebration is to express gratitude to ancestors and gods.

The Mông is one of the largest ethnic groups in Việt Nam. They live mostly in the mountainous regions in the northern provinces of Hà Giang, Lào Cai, Lai Châu, Sơn La, and in the north-central and Central Highlands provinces of Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Gia Lai and Kon Tum.

There are various Mông groups, such as white Mông, black Mông and flower Mông. Though they are different from the costumes and languages, the Mông nationwide have some common cultural traits, such as their New Year celebration. — VNS