Kate Festival - an interesting destination for tourists

The Kate Festival of the Cham people in Binh Thuan province will be solemnly held in accordance with the traditional customs of the local Cham people, with the participation of the Cham community throughout the province. This year's festival takes place on October 13-14, 2023, promising to be an interesting experience for tourists during their trip to Phan Thiet this weekend.

Kate is the oldest and most unique folk festival of the Cham people following Brahmanism in Binh Thuan with the meaning of remembering the gods and praying for favorable weather, good crops, harmonious couples, and the growth of people and all things. During the Kate festival, not only the Cham people in Binh Thuan but also the Cham people living and working everywhere return to reunite and gather with their families, friends, and relatives.

According to the order of the festival rituals, it will start from the temple tower to the villages and to each family. In 2005, the Kate Festival was restored by Binh Thuan province at Po Sah Inu tower (Phu Hai ward, Phan Thiet city) and became one of the 6 typical festivals chosen by the province to develop tourism . Since then, the festival has not only met the spiritual and emotional needs of the Cham people, but also contributed to promoting the culture and image of Binh Thuan to domestic and international tourists.

Specifically, the Kate Festival at the Po Sah Inư tower relic, including the ceremony and the festival, takes place in harmony, creating an atmosphere that is both solemn and joyful, healthy and united in the ethnic community. In which, the ceremony is considered the main content, the core of the festival. The ceremony is conducted by Cham dignitaries of Ham Thuan Bac district, following the religious regulations and traditional customs left by their ancestors, including rituals such as performing the peace-praying ceremony, the dance ceremony, inviting the gods; opening the tower door, bathing the Linga - Yoni altar, wearing costumes and the Great thanksgiving ceremony for the goddess Po Sah Inư and the gods (at the main tower).

Visitors experience pottery making and weaving.

During the festival, Cham people from Ham Thuan Bac, Bac Binh, Tuy Phong, Ham Thuan Nam, Tanh Linh and Ham Tan districts will divide into teams and participate in rice pounding, water-carrying and obstacle-crossing competitions, Saranai trumpet playing competitions, decorating offerings on Thonla and Co Bong to worship goddess Po Sah Inu; performing and exchanging Cham folk arts to create an exciting, joyful and united atmosphere.

Not only can you join the procession carrying the goddess Po Sah Inư up to the main tower, you can also experience blindfolded pot-breaking or pottery-making and weaving - two traditional crafts of the Cham people that are still preserved.

Binh Thuan has more than 40,000 Cham people living there. They are always aware of preserving the traditional culture of the nation, including the unique cultural features of the Kate Festival. On April 4, 2022, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism decided to include the Kate Festival of the Cham people in Binh Thuan province in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage. This is an important and necessary legal basis to improve the effectiveness of state management of activities to preserve and promote the value of intangible cultural heritage in the province in general and the Kate Festival of the Cham people in particular.

Source