When cockscomb blossoms cover local hillsides and valleys, the Cong minority people go out to the fields to harvest their rice. After the crop is stockpiled in their homes, they take a break and enjoy the Flower Festival - the most important event of the year.
They celebrate the year’s achievements, express their gratitude toward genies and the ancestors, and pray for another bumper crop and prosperity.
The ritual offerings during the festival come from nature or are local produce. Red and yellow cockscomb flowers are an indispensable offering, because the Cong people consider the flowers to be a symbol of good luck.
After the ritual, villagers gather together to celebrate the festival with singing and dancing. In the morning of the next day, they participate in folk games to the enthusiastic cheers of villagers.
The Cong ethnic minority people are one of six ethnic groups in Pa Tan commune, gathered mostly in La Cha village, with 82 households and more than 400 people.
The Flower Festival is their most unique and important ritual and has been passed down from generation to generation.
It is also a national intangible cultural heritage of Dien Bien province./.
