The Long Tong (going to the field) Festival opened in Chiem Hoa district of the northern mountainous province of Tuyen Quang on January 29, 2023 (Photo: VNA)

The festival features a worship ceremony for Han lady,who was believed to be sent by the God to help the Thai defend the country,and for the local Genie, the Mountain Genie and the Forest Genie.

After the ceremony, representatives of the government and the villagers went down to the fields to perform the plowing and sowing ritual, hoping for a year of favorable weather. During the festival, there were folk games, con ball throwing, crossbows shooting, tug of war, pushing sticks and cultural exchanges.

The same day, the Long Tong (going to the field) Festival opened in Chiem Hoa district of the northern mountainous province of Tuyen Quang after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Celebrated annually by Tay ethnic minority people in the province on the eighth day of the new lunar year, it is a religious ritual dedicated to the god of agriculture to pray for  bumper crops and prosperity for villagers throughout the year.

It features an offering ritual, a ploughing ceremony, and folk games.

Long Tong is the most typical festival of the Tay, an ethnic minority group living in the northern mountain region with a population of over 1.6 million.

The festival was named national intangible cultural heritage in 2013.