Bắc Kạn Lồng Tồng Festival – The Biggest Spring Festival Of The Ba Bể Lake Region.

If you ask me when is the best time to visit Ba Bể, perhaps it is the early spring days when the Lồng Tồng Festival is held by Ba Bể Lake.

In the chilly weather of the mountains, when the peach and plum blossoms are still in bloom, tens of thousands of locals and tourists flock to participate in the largest rice planting festival of the year for the Tay ethnic group here.

The festival of aspirations for abundance and bountiful harvests

"Lồng Tồng" in the Tay language means "going to the fields." This is a long-standing traditional festival associated with the rice civilization of the residents around Ba Bể Lake.

Every year on the 10th day of the first lunar month, the locals gather to hold the festival to pray for a new year of favorable weather, good harvests, thriving livestock, and a warm and happy life.

Not just a simple agricultural festival, Lồng Tồng is also an occasion for the community to meet, exchange, express their good wishes for the new year, and preserve the traditional cultural values that have existed for many generations.

The bustling atmosphere by Ba Bể Lake

From early morning, people from all the villages have poured into the festival area at Bó Lù, by Ba Bể Lake.

The traditional Tay costumes in vibrant colors appear everywhere. The sound of drums, the lute, and the singing blend with laughter and conversation, creating an incredibly lively atmosphere.

What impresses me the most is the ritual of carrying offerings from the communes in Ba Bể district. The trays full of local products are lovingly presented to the heavens and ancestors as a thank you for the past harvest, while also praying for a new year of abundance and peace.

Amidst the majestic mountains and the emerald lake, the procession of people in traditional costumes creates a colorful cultural picture that is hard to find elsewhere.

Folk games that embody the spirit of the festival

After the solemn ceremony, the lively festival lasts all day.

The festival area is filled with cheers from competitions such as throwing the ball, tug-of-war, pushing sticks, blindfolded goat catching, making bánh dày, and impressive performances of folk art.

Throwing the ball is perhaps the game that attracts the most participants. The ball carries hopes for fertility, luck, and happiness thrown into the spring sky amid the enthusiastic cheers of the audience.

Alongside are the melodies of hát then and the sound of the lute echoing in the mountainous space, bringing visitors closer to the spiritual life of the Tay people.

The flavors of Bắc Kạn during the spring festival

Attending the Lồng Tồng Festival is not just to watch the festivities. It is also an opportunity to enjoy dishes rich in the flavors of the highlands.

Delicious sticky rice cakes, five-color sticky rice, grilled local pork, fish from Ba Bể Lake, leaf-wrapped rice wine, and local OCOP products all appear in the stalls at the spring festival.

Sitting in the bustling atmosphere of the festival, enjoying a cup of corn wine and listening to the stories of the locals is an experience that many visitors remember long after leaving Ba Bể.

Cultural heritage amidst the vast wilderness

Today, the Ba Bể Lồng Tồng Festival has been recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage and has become one of the largest spring festivals in the northern mountainous region.

However, what makes the festival attractive is not only its scale or the number of tourists. It is the feeling of being immersed in the cultural life of the local people. Witnessing customs that have existed for hundreds of years still preserved intact amidst modern life.

Every spring, when the festival drums echo by Ba Bể Lake, the Lồng Tồng Festival becomes a gathering place for joy, aspirations, and love for the land of Bắc Kạn.

And for anyone who loves highland culture, this is definitely a festival to experience at least once in a lifetime.