Binh Thuan’s Kate Festival listed as Intangible Cultural Heritage

The ritual of praying for peace during the annual Kate Festival of the Cham people in Binh Thuan at the Po Sah Inu Cham Tower relic in Phan Thiet city, Binh Thuan province. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – During the Kate festival, Cham people residing in the south central province of Binh Thuan and those from all walks of life return home to reunite with their families and friends to celebrate and worship.

Kate is the most ancient and unique festival of the Brahman Cham people in Binh Thuan. It is held each year to pay tribute to the gods and pray for favourable weather and crops, happy couples, and good fortune.

Kate Festival - one of six annual festivals in Binh Thuan

The provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on April 4 announced that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued decision No. 776/QD-BVHTTDL to add the traditional Kate festival to the list of national intangible cultural heritage in Vietnam.

In 2017, the Kate Festival was recognised as an intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It is one of the 15 biggest festivals in the country, attracting thousands of domestic and international visitors every year.

Binh Thuan is currently home to nearly 40,000 Cham people, primarily in the districts of Tuy Phong, Bac Binh, Ham Thuan Bac and Tanh Linh. In addition to the Kate festival, the Cham celebrate many cultural and religious festivals of Rijanugar, Suc dang, Ramuwan New Year, to name a few.

Over the last 15 years, the Kate Festival has been enacted at the Po Sah Inu Tower Complex in Phu Hai ward, Phan Thiet city. It has been selected as one of six festivals aimed at tourism development in the province. The festival is part of the Cham spiritual invocation, featured to introduce the local culture to Vietnamese and foreign visitors.

In addition to investment in economic and social development in ethnic minority-inhabited and mountainous areas in general and Cham people in particular, Binh Thuan province has worked to preserve the traditional cultural values of Cham ethnic people. The efforts include recognizing pottery making, preserving Cham festivals and building a Cham cultural exhibition centre.

A procession to take clothes of Po Sah Inu Goddess to the main tower (Photo: VNA)

Traditional festival rich in cultural identity of Cham people

The Kate festival is representative of the folk culture of the Cham ethnic group where society and the cultural quintessence of Cham people converge.

Activities of the festival take place at temples and towers, villages, hamlets and within homes of local families.

After the closure of the festival at temples and towers, the atmosphere is vibrant again as villagers organise other festivals in their hamlets. Cham hamlets bustle with unique activities such as weaving and pottery making contests, dances and singing, folk games, and sports exchanges.

When the festival in the village ends, it moves to the clans and family homes of Cham people. The Kate festival brings together all family members so that grandparents and parents can educate their descendants to be grateful, respect their ancestors, and pray to their ancestors for a prosperous year and good fortune.

The festival also offers an opportunity for attendees to enjoy a unique style of folk music, singing, dancing.

The annual Kate festival of Cham people has contributed to the preservation and development of cultural values. It is not only the joy of Cham ethnic people, but also one of the great celebrations of ethnic groups in Vietnam.

The Cham people celebrate the Kate festival during the first 10 days of the 7th month of the Cham Calendar to thank their Gods and promote their traditional culture and arts.

Around 153,000 Cham people live in Vietnam, including more than 41,000 in Binh Thuan province./.