The word “Khau Vai” in Tay-Nung language means “thorn pass”. But many documents use it incorrectly as “Khau Vai”. Tourists traveling to Ha Giang jokingly call this Phong Tinh market.
The origin of this market starts from the legend of Ba from the Nung ethnic group and Ut from the Giay ethnic group. They loved each other passionately but because they were not of the same ethnicity, ancestors or customs. Moreover, he is from a poor family and she is the daughter of the Giay clan chief. Therefore, their love affair is forbidden.
They took each other to a cave on Khau Vai mountain to hide and survive. However, in the village, Ms. Ut’s relatives carried their bows and cursed the groom’s family for taking her away from home. The groom’s family also brought sticks and knives to beat and curse the bride’s family. From the cave in the mountain, two people saw their relatives stabbing each other for them. They were heartbroken and had to break up and return to fulfill their duties to the family. Before breaking up, they promised that on March 27 every year they would come to Khau Vai to sing for each other and talk about what happened during the year they were apart.
Staying together all night, the next day they will return to their normal lives. When they are old, on the last day of their lives, they come here, hug each other tightly, and go together into eternity. The day they left was also March 27. The villagers mourned this difficult relationship, so they built two temples to worship Mr. and Mrs. and took this day as a market day for couples who had lost their love.
Since then, Khau Vai love market, also known as “Phong Luu market”, takes place on the 27th day of the third lunar month every year. In the past, not many people came to the market, mainly people with difficult relationships, they loved each other but could not get married because of the constraints of feudal rites and outdated customs. Therefore, this day is for them to confide in each other after one or more years of separation and inform each other about their current situation. Maybe a husband and wife go to the market together, when the husband goes to the market to meet his ex-lover, the wife goes to find her ex-lover, there is no jealousy. They respect each other, respect each other’s past, and consider it their responsibility for each other’s spiritual life. At the end of the market, they return to their daily lives, planning to come to the market again next year. This is the rustic and simple cultural beauty of Khau Vai love market.
Previously, Khau Vai love market was a market of difficult love relationships. Since 1991, many young men and women from all ethnic groups in the region have come to the market to enjoy spring and also to find partners. Many couples have become husband and wife on the occasion of going to Khau Vai love market. Also due to this identity of praising the pure love of a couple, Khau Vai love market is now organized as a festival, a tourism product for tourists to visit and learn about culture. Every festival will have a ceremony and a festival.
On the 27th day of the third lunar month every year, ethnic boys and girls here put on their most beautiful costumes to come to Khau Vai Phong Luu market.
During the ceremony of the love market, Khau Vai people will make offerings to the Ong temple and Ba temple as if to remember their roots, the people who reclaimed land in Khau Vai village and to honor the love of couples. The village elder who presides over the ceremony will offer incense to ask for permission to start the festival.
Coming to the festival, visitors are immersed in the bustling atmosphere of the festival, ecstatic by the majestic mountain scenery, excited by the melodious sound of the lips calling to friends, melodious with the sound of the Mong flute, love confession songs from Hmong, Nung, Giay boys and girls… There are also stalls displaying handicraft products and Ha Giang specialties for visitors to buy as gifts. after the trip.
Khau Vai Phong Luu Market Festival in 2023 is held with the theme “Returning to where love begins”, with many rich and diverse activities, such as: Mong flute blowing performance, sword dance performance of the Giay ethnic group Nam Ban commune, fire dance of the Lo Lo ethnic group in Xin Cai commune, bronze drum dance, two-string dance, tree dance of the Lo Lo ethnic group in Meo Vac town, drum dance of the Giay ethnic group in Na Trao village, Tat Nga commune, , singing folk songs of the Nung ethnic group in Khau Vai commune, singing love songs of the Nung and Giay ethnic groups; folk games, such as: Pole climbing contest to conquer love, toss and fall in love contest, bird’s nest fighting contest, pound throwing contest, water carrying contest, crossbow shooting contest, blindfolded duck catching contest, cake pounding contest… Especially, a special art program to celebrate the opening of the Festival will take place on the evening of the 26th day of the third lunar month at the Stone Maze stage in Khau Vai commune.
In addition, coming to this year’s Festival, visitors will be able to participate in many experiential activities, such as: Incense offering ceremony at Ong Temple and Ba Temple; Ceremony to pray for fate; Children’s Congress of Ethnic Minorities in Meo Vac district; Enjoy the night market of Meo Vac town; Take photos of flowers at the Stone Maze in Khau Vai commune; Visit the Mong ethnic community cultural tourism village, Pa Vi Ha village, Pa Vi commune; Take a boat on the Nho Que river to see Tu San alley, or conquer the Ma Pi Leng White Cliff walking route,…
Khau Vai Phong Luu Market is not only a place to preserve traditional cultural values and noble humanistic values, but also a place to praise pure love, creating the spread of good values in the community. contributing to building and developing moral standards of society, family, and love between couples. This is also a place to exchange and meet to preserve the unique folk cultural beauty of ethnic minorities and promote and attract tourists to the Dong Karst Plateau Global Geopark. Literature.