TL;DR: Gầu Tào, meaning "playing outdoors" or "festival on the hill," is an important early spring festival of the Mông people. It has two forms: a thanksgiving ceremony organized by three families together after their wishes for children or good health were granted, and a communal spring festival for the whole village to pray for favorable weather and good harvests. The festival lasts three days with rituals of erecting a ceremonial pole, offerings, khèn dancing, martial arts, and courtship singing, expressing the community's aspiration for growth and flourishing. It is held in several provinces such as Lai Châu, Lào Cai, Tuyên Quang, and Phú Thọ, and has been included in the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
What is the Gầu Tào Festival?
The Gầu Tào Festival is a traditional festival typical of the Mông people, held mainly in the mountainous provinces of northern Vietnam, especially in Lào Cai. In the Mông language, "Gầu Tào" means "a place to play", and is also commonly understood as "playing outdoors" or "a gathering on the hill". In essence, this is an occasion for the community to come together and enjoy themselves, and more importantly, to give thanks to the deities after the family's prayers have come true. The festival is usually tied to wishes for children, for health and for good fortune, and is held over three consecutive years in the spring.
There are two forms of the Gầu Tào rite. The first is a thanksgiving rite organised jointly by three families after their prayers for children or for health have been answered. The second form, common in many places, is that Gầu Tào has become a shared spring festival for the whole village, formerly often hosted by a well-off and respected family, with the meaning of praying for favourable rain and wind and for good harvests. This is a local variant, and may differ from the ritual of lowering the nêu pole toward the sunrise and then carrying the nêu pole back to the host family's house described later in this article.
A summary table of the main rituals and features of the Gầu Tào Festival of the Mông people.
| Ritual or stage | Timing | Main objects or actions | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cutting bamboo | Late tháng Chạp | A straight bamboo culm with even nodes, 9 to 12 metres tall, free of pests and disease, with no broken tip and no flowering | Selecting a nêu pole that meets the requirements |
| Raising the nêu pole | After cutting | Two strips of black and red linen cloth, a gourd of wine, three ears of glutinous rice, a clump of sưi plant | Inviting the ancestors, symbolising wealth and fertility |
| Offering after raising the nêu pole | Immediately after raising the nêu pole | Chicken, wine, rice, incense, burning votive paper | Giving thanks to the deities |
| Main festival | The 2nd to the 4th day of Tết Nguyên đán | Hanging offerings, kneeling in prayer, declaring the festival open | Opening the festival |
| Merrymaking | During the main festival | Khèn dancing, traditional martial arts, sinh tiền staff dance, Chù Gầu Tào festival singing, antiphonal singing | Meeting and expressing affection |
| Lowering the nêu pole | Afternoon of the third day | The pole falls toward the sunrise, without touching the ground, then is carried back to the host family's house | Closing the festival |
What are the origins and spiritual meaning of the Gầu Tào Festival?
In the Mông belief, when a family has difficulty having children (no children, few children, or children of only one sex), has someone who is sick, or finds their livelihood unfavourable, they will seek out a high, open hill to pray to the deities for protection. That hill is called "Hấu Tào" (festival hill). If the wish comes true, the family holds the Gầu Tào rite to give thanks, usually over three consecutive years, once each year in early spring.
The deeper meaning of the festival is not only thanksgiving but also the aspiration for fertility and growth. The Mông believe that the Gầu Tào hill represents the host family's fortune. The hollow space in front of the hill represents misfortune, while the higher hills behind represent growth: children surpassing their parents, and wealth becoming ever more abundant. The festival is therefore not only an occasion to express gratitude but also a way for the community to entrust its dream of a better future.
What is the scale and form of organisation of the Gầu Tào Festival?
Unlike many other festivals, Gầu Tào is usually organised by three families who are related by blood or by marriage. These families share the same circumstances, for example all having few children or all having someone who is sick, and they carry out the festival together to add solemnity and closeness. The venue is a low hill with a flat top, forming a wide clearing surrounded by higher hills. The hill must face East so that the nêu pole raised on it can catch the sunlight, the symbol of life and good fortune.
The festival is held over three consecutive years, once a year. Each year a nêu pole is planted, and in the third year the three host families take turns bringing the nêu pole and the objects hung on it back to their homes to "receive blessing and fortune". Holding it over three years expresses the hosts' perseverance and sincerity toward the deities.
Preparatory rituals: From cutting bamboo to raising the nêu pole
The preparations for the festival begin in late tháng Chạp, with two important rituals: cutting the bamboo and raising the nêu pole.
How does the bamboo-cutting ritual take place?
The host family must invite a ritual master (called Trứ Tào) and a woman assistant (Nẹ Tào), both people with a warm, happy family life and a comfortable economic situation. There are also two young people, a man and a woman, assisting the ritual master, called Tú Tào and Sảy Tào. On the day of cutting the bamboo, the host family sets out an offering tray, the ritual master performs the offering, drinks wine and sings the "sây giể" song (divination) to explain the reason for holding the rite. After that, the ritual master opens an umbrella, sings the "sáy dìn sê" song (going to find the nêu pole) and leads the group to the chosen bamboo.
The bamboo for the nêu pole must be straight, with even nodes, 9 to 12 metres tall, free of pests and disease, with no broken tip and no flowering, and the tip must point toward the sunrise. While cutting, the ritual master sings the "chía dìn sê" song (cutting the nêu pole) and walks around the base of the bamboo, cutting one stroke per circuit. The bamboo must fall toward the sunrise and be caught on people's shoulders, never touching the ground. Afterward, the culm is trimmed smooth, while the top keeps its branches and leaves, symbolising a "dragon's mane" or sacredness.
What is the meaning of the ritual of raising the nêu pole?
After cutting, the nêu pole is carried to the festival ground, without touching the ground and without resting along the way. At the festival ground, a hole is dug to plant the nêu pole, taking care that it does not coincide with the holes of previous years. The ritual master ties to the top of the pole objects of symbolic meaning: two strips of black and red linen cloth (black symbolising the gathering of forces, red for inviting the ancestors to the festival), a gourd of wine, three ears of glutinous rice (symbolising wealth) and a clump of "sưi" plant of the fern family (symbolising fertility). The nêu pole is raised, its tip turned toward the sunrise.
Immediately after the pole is raised, the offering is carried out with offerings of chicken, wine and rice. The ritual master burns incense, burns votive paper, walks anticlockwise around the nêu pole and sings the "Tịnh chay" song (setting the date) to inform the deities that the family is holding the thanksgiving rite as promised. After that, everyone shares the offerings right at the foot of the nêu pole.
What does the main festival consist of?
The main festival is usually held from the 2nd to the 4th day of Tết Nguyên đán, with the date chosen to suit the age of the host. On the day of the main festival, the ritual master and the assistant hang the offerings on the nêu pole, place votive paper at its base and kneel in prayer. After the offering ritual, the ritual master declares the festival open.
What are the entertainment and merrymaking activities?
The Gầu Tào Festival is an occasion for the Mông community to express its rich cultural identity. One of the highlights is the khèn dancing, with its khèn pieces, khèn tones and skilled dance movements, performed by artisans and taught to the younger generation. There are also performances of traditional martial arts, the sinh tiền staff dance, and "Chù Gầu Tào" festival singing. In particular, the antiphonal singing between men and women, and between hosts and guests, is lively, an opportunity for young men and women to meet, get to know each other and express feelings that are hard to voice in everyday life.
The festival also includes many folk games such as tug of war, pao throwing, spinning tops, and a giầy cake pounding contest, attracting a large number of local people and visitors. Amid the bustling sound of flutes and khèn, the young men take on the work of slaughtering buffalo and cooking the feast, while Mông girls deftly show off their embroidery of intricate patterns on traditional skirts and garments, or join in the graceful dances.
The festival atmosphere also spreads throughout the region, for when the nêu pole is raised everyone knows there is a festival that year. They invite one another to market and along the roads to spread news of the festival, and practise together the musical and martial arts items to "show their skills" on the festival day.
How does the lowering of the nêu pole and the closing take place?
The festival lasts three days. In the afternoon of the third day, the ritual master declares the lowering of the nêu pole. The lowering ritual is also carried out solemnly, similar to the cutting of the bamboo: the pole is made to fall toward the sunrise, its trunk not touching the ground, and then the nêu pole is carried back to the host family's house. Near the house, a section of the pole's base about 1 metre long is cut off, the grains are husked from the three ears of glutinous rice, and money is placed into a winnowing tray of paddy. The host family closes the door and waits, singing in antiphonal reply to the ritual master to receive the nêu pole, then opens the door to welcome it. The nêu pole is carried into the house with its base end first. The ritual master hands the host family the strip of linen cloth and the section of the nêu pole's base: the base is used to "plank" the sleeping bed, and the linen cloth is used to sew clothes for the child born thanks to the prayers, or for the person who has recovered from illness. This is the important rite that closes the festival, bringing blessing and fortune to the family.
What are its cultural value and current state of preservation?
The Gầu Tào Festival is considered the largest festival and the only one of community scale of the Mông people, closely bound to their spiritual and mental life. It is not only an occasion to give thanks to the deities but also a place where traditional cultural values such as music, khèn dancing, martial arts and folk songs are preserved and passed on.
However, the Gầu Tào Festival is facing the risk of decline. The artisans who hold the skills and rituals are all elderly, and they pass them on only to their eldest son, which limits transmission to the next generation. In addition, the younger generation is increasingly less enthusiastic about taking part in the rituals as well as the traditional performances at the festival. This leads to the risk of these distinctive cultural values fading away.
Recognising the historical, cultural and scientific value of the festival, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has added the Gầu Tào Festival of the Mông people in Lào Cai to the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. This is an important step to protect and promote this heritage, and to encourage the community to continue preserving and passing it on to future generations.
The Gầu Tào rite is also held in many other localities. In Lai Châu, the province has upgraded the rite to district level since 2023. The Gầu Tào rite in Phong Thổ district (formerly Lai Châu) in 2024 had 8 delegations from 7 communes and Lai Châu city taking part, with contents including a Mông khèn assembly contest, brocade embroidery, thắng cố cooking and offering tray arrangement. In former Yên Bái (now part of Lào Cai), the Gầu Tào rite of the Mông people in Trạm Tấu, Mù Cang Chải and Văn Chấn districts has been added to the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The rite is also held in former Hà Giang (now part of Tuyên Quang) and former Hòa Bình (now part of Phú Thọ).
How does the Gầu Tào Festival differ between localities?
The Gầu Tào Festival is held in many mountainous northern provinces with large Mông communities such as Lai Châu, Lào Cai, Tuyên Quang (formerly Hà Giang) and Phú Thọ (formerly Hòa Bình). Each locality has its own variations, creating richness and diversity for the festival.
In Lai Châu, the Gầu Tào Festival has been upgraded to district-level organisation since 2023. The Gầu Tào Festival of Phong Thổ district in 2024 had the participation of 8 delegations from 7 communes and Lai Châu city. The competing teams took part in many rich contents such as a musical performance contest, Mông khèn assembly, brocade pattern embroidery, cultural space displays, thắng cố cooking and traditional offering tray arrangement.
In former Yên Bái (now part of Lào Cai), the Gầu Tào Festival of the Mông people in Trạm Tấu, Mù Cang Chải and Văn Chấn districts has been added to the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. This shows the attention of authorities at all levels to preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values of ethnic minority communities.
The closing of the festival in some places also includes a ritual of lowering the nêu pole toward the sunset, with the belief of sending away misfortune and praying for a new year of favourable rain and wind and good harvests. This is a variant compared with the ritual of lowering the nêu pole toward the sunrise and then carrying it back to the host family's house described above.
Today, the Gầu Tào Festival is not only a cultural beauty of the Mông people alone but has also become an attractive tourism product, a bridge for cultural exchange between ethnic groups, helping to promote the image of the northern highlands to domestic and international visitors.
