The Lao Ethnic Group: Residence, Language, Worship Customs and Main Festivals
The Lao in Vietnam call themselves Thay and Thay Duồn, speak a Tay-Thai language, live in Điện Biên, Lai Châu and Sơn La, and keep ancestor altars.
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According to the Survey of 53 ethnic minorities dated 1 April 2019, the Lao population is 17,532 people. According to the 2009 Population and Housing Census, this figure was 14,928 people.
From the article “The Lao Ethnic Group: Residence, Language, Worship Customs and Main Festivals”
The Lao in Vietnam call themselves Thay and Thay Duồn, speak a Tay-Thai language, live in Điện Biên, Lai Châu and Sơn La, and keep ancestor altars.
The Cờ Lao live mainly in Hà Giang and speak a Ka Đai language. They worship ancestors, the earth god, and rice spirits.
Bunpimay, the Lao New Year in Vietnam, also called Bun Huột Nặm: offerings to the spirits, wrist-thread tying and water splashing in mid April.
The Khmer (Khơ Me) numbered 1,319,652 in the 2019 survey, live mainly in the Mekong Delta, speak a Mon-Khmer language, and worship Buddha and ancestors.
Vietnam's Thai ethnic group includes the Black and White branches, speaks the Tay-Thai language, lives in ban-muong villages, and worships ancestors.
Sử Giề Pà, the buffalo thanksgiving of the Bố Y in Lào Cai, falls on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month, with a shared offering tray for the village.
The Bo Y ethnic group includes the Bo Y and Tu Dí subgroups in Hà Giang and Lào Cai, with two language families and distinct worship and festival customs.
The Chùa Ông festival on Cù Lao Phố (Thất phủ cổ miếu, Đồng Nai), 9th to 13th of the first lunar month: Quan Công worship, rites, national heritage in 2023.
The Dao are one of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups. Where they live, their Hmong-Dao language, ancestor and Bàn Vương worship, and cap sac rites.
The Ruc, a Chut subgroup in the Trường Sơn mountains, worship mountain and forest deities and hold that the dead return to the sacred forest.
The Tay are Vietnam's largest ethnic minority. They live in northeastern valleys, speak a Tay-Thai language, worship ancestors, and hold long tong festivals.
The Muong ethnic group speaks a Viet-Muong language and lives mainly in Hòa Bình, Thanh Hóa and Phú Thọ, with mo epics, festivals and worship customs.
The Ba Na live in Gia Lai, Kon Tum and western Bình Định, Phú Yên and Khánh Hoà, speak a Mon-Khmer language and keep many community festivals.
The Hoa (Han) are one of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups: where they live, their language, ancestor worship customs, and festivals like Tết Nguyên tieu.
The Ma live in Lâm Đồng and Đồng Nai, speak a Mon-Khmer language with no script, worship Yang spirits and hold a buffalo sacrifice after harvest.
The Mang are one of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups, living mainly in Lai Châu and speaking a Mon-Khmer language. Their worship customs and festivals are covered.
Vietnam's Cong people live mainly in Lai Châu, speak a Tibeto-Burman language and keep ancestor worship and their own festivals.
The Xơ Đăng include the Xơ Teng, Tơ Đrá, Mnam, Ca Dong, Ha Lăng, Tà Trĩ and Chau subgroups in Kon Tum, Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi, with worship of Kiak spirits.
The O Du people speak a Mon-Khmer language and live mainly in Tương Dương, Nghệ An, known for the thunder welcoming festival and the house spirit cult.
The Mong ethnic group (Meo, H'Mong) had 1,393,547 people in the 2019 census, including White, Flowered, Red, Black, and Green Mong subgroups.
The Sán Dìu are one of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups, speaking a Guangdong Chinese dialect in the northern midlands, with distinctive worship customs.
Learn about the origin of International Labor Day on May 1 from the 1886 Chicago workers' movement and its significance in Vietnam through the periods.
Vietnam recognises 54 ethnic groups under the 1979 official list, with the Kinh majority and 53 minority groups spread across all regions.
Explore the unique wedding customs of the Muong people in Thanh Hóa: from elopement and ancestor worship to bride-price negotiations and wedding day taboos.
Vietnamese worship customs vary by region and ethnicity through environment, migration, and cultural exchange, not through one practice being more correct.
The Rong house is the cultural and spiritual heart of Central Highlands villages, hosting rituals, dispute resolution, and production planning.
The National Mong Ethnic Culture Festival rotates among provinces with large Mong populations. Its 4th edition is in Điện Biên in October 2026.
Kinh Phòng (Jing Fang) of the Han: his life in the Book of Han, and the nạp giáp and eight-palace systems set out in Kinh thị Dịch truyện.
Which peoples in Vietnam keep their own New Year apart from Tết Nguyên Đán? The Mông, Hà Nhì, Khmer, Chăm and others, as reported in the press.
Vietnam's ethnic minorities have their own marriage rites, house-building practices and worship, shaped by environment and indigenous beliefs.
Tay weddings move through proposal, engagement, Tet visit and the wedding, with the matrilocal custom of a bride staying with her mother until pregnancy.
Ancient leaf books of the May people, a Chut subgroup, held incantations and ritual texts, and the artisans who can read them have nearly vanished.
Explore the rain praying festival of the Thai people in Northwest Vietnam: origins, rituals, spiritual meanings, and its role in agricultural community life.
Comparing Lunar New Year of the Kinh, Chôl Chnăm Thmay of the Khmer, and ethnic groups with their own calendars: timing, offerings, rituals, and names.
Soul-calling rites after illness, a fall, fright or a long journey: who performs them, the offerings, how the calling is done, and how ethnic groups differ.
The Giay live mainly in Lào Cai, Hà Giang and Lai Châu, speak a Thai-Kadai language, and keep an altar with three incense bowls.
Chicken feet divination at Tet and the new rice ceremony of ethnic minorities aims to predict fate and crops for the new year.
How Lunar New Year among the Hoa of Chợ Lớn differs from Vietnamese Tết: Kitchen God send-off, offerings, bánh tổ, assembly halls, visiting order.
The Ngái are one of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups, with a very small population living scattered across Quảng Ninh, Hải Phòng, Bắc Giang, Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng.
The 12th Tam Giac Mach Flower Festival opens on 6 November 2026 in Đồng Văn, Tuyên Quang, with blooms from October to December.
The Kinh (Viet) are 86.83% of Vietnam's population and speak Vietnamese of the Việt Mường group. Their villages and ancestor worship are covered here.
The Lô Lô live in Hà Giang, Cao Bằng and Lào Cai, speak a Tibeto-Burman language, and are split into the Flowery Lô Lô and Black Lô Lô.