Worship customs of the Dao Do
Ta Thi Tam, M.A. Institute of Anthropology Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences The worship of gods and goddesses, tutelary deities, and family ancestors plays a very important role in the spiritual life of the Dao Do (Red Dao), one of the Dao’s seven subgroups living mostly in the northern mountainous provinces of Lao Cai, Lai Chau and Cao Bang.
New year festival of the Bo Y
The lunar new year festival is the biggest event in the year for the Bo Y, a small Tay-Thai language group living in the northern mountainous provinces of Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Yen Bai and Tuyen Quang.The new year festival, which lasts three days from the last day of the old lunar year through the second day of the new year, is dedicated to Bo Y ancestors and gods to pray for their support for a new year of peace, health and prosperity. In the middle of the 12th lunar month, the Bo Y start storing rice and food to make offerings for their most important festival. The offerings include sticky rice dyed in red, banh chung (square sticky rice cake filled with green bean paste and pork), banh day (round pure sticky rice cake) and banh chay (round sticky rice cake filled with green bean paste).