Joining the bustling festive atmosphere on the occasion of the National Day (September 2), the New Rice Festival 2025 opened in Ngoc Chien commune on the morning of August 30.

The two-day festival includes both ceremonial and festive parts. The ceremonial part featured the ritual of offering the new rice at Don Ho Temple in Muong Chien hamlet, and at Sa Mu Tree Temple in Na Tau hamlet. The local shaman performed the rites to express gratitude to the ancestors, the deities, and the heaven and the earth, praying for favourable weather, abundant harvests, and a prosperous, fulfilling life.

After the ritual at the temples, families held their own new rice offering ceremonies at home. Depending on their circumstances, families invited guests to join in the celebration. Once the offering ceremony concluded, the host invited guests to enjoy the party with a communal drinking of "ruou can" (wine stored in a big jar and drunk with long bamboo straws), and to exchange good wishes for the future.

The festive portion of the event attracted a large crowd of visitors, with a variety of art performances under the theme "New Rice of Ngoc Chien." Singing and dancing performances by local artists and cultural teams from the commune’s hamlets filled the air, celebrating the Party, President Ho Chi Minh, the commune’s development, love, nature, and fragrant rice fields.

The festival coincides with the harvest season, when the rice fields stretching along the Chien River were a golden hue, creating a stunning "golden season" panorama amidst the majestic mountains. It also serves as a great opportunity to promote, introduce, and attract both local and international tourists to experience, enjoy, and seek investment, exchange, and cooperation in Ngoc Chien - a place with great potential for tourism development.

The New Rice Festival 2025 features a series of cultural, sporting, and traditional games that reflect the unique cultural identity of the highland ethnic communities. Special highlights include rice pounding competitions, a traditional costume contest, the beauty of the women of Ngoc Chien, the "Sacrifice of the Buffalo" ceremony, a buffalo prince contest, a fishing contest, a stone stacking contest, and a food competition. These activities promise to offer both domestic and international visitors a unique and memorable experience.

As part of the event, the commune also hosted a traditional rice pounding competition. 

Seven teams, each consisting of five to six experienced artisans, participated in the event. Each team was required to prepare at least 3 kilograms of fresh sticky rice along with all necessary tools, such as mortar and pestle, frying pan, and stove.

Within 60 minutes, the teams demonstrated their skills and teamwork, carefully following each step of the process - from roasting the rice over hot coals to ensure it was perfectly cooked, to pounding and sifting the rice to create flat, fragrant grains of rice with a vibrant green colour.

The rice grains were sifted to remove the husks and broken grains, leaving only the fresh, green rice for the final product.

This rice pounding competition provided a platform for artisans to showcase their craftsmanship and also served as an opportunity to promote and introduce local products to visitors, spreading the beauty of the commune’s traditional cultural values.