Dien Bien Ban Flower Festival from the perspective of Thai ethnic culture
The elderly in Muong Lay, Tuan Giao (Dien Bien) recounted that: In the past, the Ban Flower Festival was also associated with the Xen Muong Festival or the Harvest Festival held in the second lunar month every year, when the Ban flowers bloom white all over the hillsides. In addition, this is also an opportunity for people to express their gratitude and respect to their ancestors as well as the mountain and river gods, and also an opportunity to pray for favorable weather, good crops, etc.
In addition, for the Thai ethnic group, the Ban Flower Festival is also associated with the legend of Ban, also known as "The Legend of the White Ban Flower". Legend has it that she was a beautiful Thai girl who was very gentle, graceful, and extremely loyal in love. However, the tragic fate of beauty and the many ups and downs of life pushed the girl to the brink of death. In the end, she died on the hillside. After her death, she transformed into a beautiful white Ban flower with a sweet and gentle fragrance…
According to Mr. Tong Van Han, a researcher of Thai ethnic culture in Dien Bien, the Thai Ban Flower Festival is often associated with the Xen Pang (happy festival). The festival will be held for the whole community to participate, usually taking place during the blooming season of the Ban flowers, organized by a shaman.
During the Xen Pang ceremony, the pole will be tied with many offerings of agricultural products such as corn, rice, potatoes, cassava, wild vegetables, and most importantly, the Ban flowers picked from the hillsides.
In the past, the Ho Festival often took place over many days. There would be folk games as well as spiritual rituals held throughout the village. In the evening, everyone would gather to dance Xoe around a warm red fire. The last night of the festival is a special night, this is the night for couples to express their love for each other, talking and confiding until dawn. People believe that if a couple confesses their love at the Ban Flower Festival, they will have a faithful love like in the love story of Ban…
Today, the Ban Flower Festival has been elevated to a cultural and tourism event. It is not only a festival of the Thai ethnic group but has also become a festival of the ethnic communities of Dien Bien province. The Ban Flower Festival is an attractive tourism product, attracting many domestic and foreign tourists with extremely rich cultural and tourism activities.
Since it was restored and considered a typical cultural and tourism product of Dien Bien province, every year on the 13th day of the third lunar month is also the day the festival takes place. The reason is that on this same day in 1954, our army fired the first shot to open the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. This is also the time when the Ban flowers not only bloom white on the hillsides, but today the Ban flowers also bloom white on every street…