Sapa Tours & Activities10 Sapa Festivals: A Local Calendar of Hill-Tribe Celebrations
Every year around Tet — the Lunar New Year — the questions in our booking inbox change. Through November it is ‘will it snow?’ By late January it becomes ‘will I catch a festival?’
The honest answer needs a lunar calendar, so we keep a printed one at the front desk. This page is that calendar, translated for travelers.
The Sapa festival calendar at a glance
Ten festivals, one table. Lunar dates drift against the Western calendar by up to a month. Treat the solar window as a guide and confirm the exact day before you travel.
| Festival | Lunar date | Usual solar window | Who celebrates | Where |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tet Nhay (Jumping Festival) | Day 1–2, month 1 | Late Jan–Feb | Dao | Ta Phin |
| Gau Tao | Day 2–4, month 1 | Late Jan–Feb | Hmong | Rotating host families |
| Long Tong (Going to the Field) | Day 8, month 1 | Feb | Tay, Dao, Xa Pho, Hmong | Ban Ho |
| Roong Pooc | A Dragon day, month 1 | Feb–early Mar | Giay | Ta Van |
| Nao Song | A Dragon day, month 1 | Feb–early Mar | Hmong | Seo My Ty – Den Thang |
| Giao Duyen (Courtship Duets) | Spring weeks after Tet | Feb–Mar | Red Dao | Ta Phin |
| Quet Lang (Village Sweeping) | Ngo & Mui days, month 2 | Mar | Xa Pho | Xa Pho villages |
| Nao Cong | Month 6 | ~July | Giay, Hmong, Dao | Ta Van |
| Tet Com Moi (New Rice) | End of harvest — village picks the day | Varies [VERIFY] | Xa Pho | Nam Sai |
| Nhan Song | No date — called when the forest needs it | — | Red Dao | Giang Ta Chai |
The first lunar month — when the valley celebrates
Six of the ten crowd into the first lunar month, right after Tet. If you can only catch one, make it Roong Pooc: the biggest, the most open to outsiders, and the easiest to reach.
Roong Pooc: the Giay new-year rite of Ta Van
Roong Pooc is the Giay people’s thanksgiving to the land, and it has grown into the largest festival in the Muong Hoa valley. Thousands walk in from the surrounding villages for one morning.
At the center of the ground stands a tall pole decorated with sun and moon symbols. Elders burn incense beneath it while drums and gongs keep time. Then the games start — con ball throwing, tug-of-war, blindfolded goat catching.
It falls on a Dragon day of the first lunar month. In 2023 the banner over the festival ground read February 3 — the 13th day of that month. Same festival, new solar date every year.
Long Tong: the valley starts plowing
On the 8th day of the first lunar month, Ban Ho holds Long Tong — the festival that opens the farming year. Tay, Dao, Xa Pho and Hmong families share it, which is rare; most festivals here belong to one group.
A procession carries offerings of land and water, and the first furrow of the season is plowed in front of everyone. The prayers are what farmers everywhere pray: rain on time, a full harvest, a calm year. → Full history and rituals: Long Tong Festival.
Gau Tao: the Hmong festival that moves house
Gau Tao has no fixed ground. Three families take turns hosting it across three years, each planting a neu tree — a tall ritual bamboo — for luck outside their home.
It runs from the 2nd to the 4th day of the first lunar month. A singer from the host family opens with blessings; after that come bamboo pole dances, archery and con ball games. Families climb Gau Tao hill to pray for children and health.
Tet Nhay: the Dao jumping festival
On the first two days of Tet, the Dao of Ta Phin gather at the family head’s house for Tet Nhay, honoring Ban Vuong, their ancestral deity.
The highlight is the Tam Nguyen An Ham dance — a shaman and ten young men moving in patterns that welcome spirits and thank the ancestors. It is loud, intense, and completely real. Nobody performs it for cameras.
Nao Song: the Hmong village oath above Ta Van
On a Dragon day of the first lunar month, the Hmong of Seo My Ty and Den Thang honor Thu Ti, the deity that guards their village. The offerings are simple — a pair of chickens or a pig, with rice wine.
After the ceremony, the offerings’ blood is touched to the trees where the deity is believed to live, and the whole village shares a feast. Of the ten festivals here, this is the one tourists see least. If you are trekking above the Ta Van valley in early spring, ask your guide about it.
Giao Duyen: love songs in Ta Phin
In the weeks after Tet, young Red Dao men and women meet in Ta Phin to sing duets — question and answer, back and forth. It is how couples traditionally found each other here.
Around the singing there are crossbow contests, pole climbing, and a sacred ball thrown through a ring. Families bring out their finest brocade and wedding dresses. The Saturday-night Love Market in Sapa town grew from this same courtship culture.
Festivals that keep their own calendar
The other four don’t wait for the new year. They follow the harvest, the second month, or no schedule at all.
Nao Cong: midsummer thanks in Ta Van
In the sixth lunar month — July, roughly — Hmong, Dao and Giay families around Ta Van each send one representative to the Nao Cong ceremony. It is the quieter, mid-season cousin of Roong Pooc: thanks for the crop standing in the fields, and a shared meal.
Quet Lang: sweeping the village clean
The Xa Pho believe the second lunar month is when hungry ghosts wander back. The rites fall on the Ngo and Mui days — horse and goat days of the lunar cycle. The village sweeps the bad spirits out and invites a healthy year in.
It ends, like most good things here, with everyone eating together.
Tet Com Moi: the quiet new-rice ritual
At the end of the harvest, each Xa Pho village around Nam Sai picks its own auspicious day; there is no fixed date. Women slip out to cut the first new rice in secret, avoiding everyone they meet — being seen breaks the ritual.
Afterwards the host family serves a meal and offers rice wine three times, with blessings traded for the year ahead.
Nhan Song: called only when the forest needs it
Despite the similar name, this is not Nao Song. Nhan Song belongs to the Red Dao of Giang Ta Chai, and it has no date at all. It is held when the forest is threatened or crops have been damaged.
The village offers a pig and renews its oath to protect the trees. Part festival, part environmental law, and older than either word.
How to catch one — and how to be a good guest
Everything above runs on the lunar calendar. I have sent guests to a festival ground a day early before — lunar arithmetic humbles everyone eventually. Now we confirm the date with someone in the village before we promise anything.
Go in the morning. The rituals happen early; the games and the eating run into the afternoon.
You will be welcome — these are open celebrations — but arrive as a guest. Ask before photographing a shaman at work. Don’t touch the altar, the offerings, or the neu tree. Buying food from the stalls is the most appreciated thing a visitor can do.
Insider note: festival season is also Tet season. Buses and hotels run at holiday prices for about two weeks around the new year, and the good cabins sell out early. Book transport about three weeks ahead if your dates fall in that window.
Getting to Sapa for a festival
All ten festivals are reached from Sapa town — you get here first, then go down-valley by taxi, motorbike or on foot. From Hanoi there are three ways up.
Sleeper bus — the budget default. Overnight cabins arrive before sunrise, which suits festival mornings well.
Private car — for families or groups on tight Tet-week schedules, door to door.
Overnight train — slower but steadier; the Tet-week favorite for travelers who want proper sleep.
→ Compare every option in the Hanoi to Sapa transport guide.
→ Full guide: Sapa Vietnam: The Complete Travel Guide →
FAQs
When is the main Sapa festival?
There is no single one. Six of the ten festivals fall in the first lunar month, late January to early March. The two biggest are Roong Pooc in Ta Van and Long Tong in Ban Ho, and the dates move every year with the lunar calendar.
Can tourists join Sapa’s festivals?
Yes. They are open village celebrations, free to attend, and visitors are treated as guests. Watch the rituals respectfully; the games and food stalls are open to everyone.
Is the Saturday Love Market a festival?
No — it is a weekly courtship custom held in Sapa town, not a lunar festival. It comes from the same Red Dao and Hmong traditions as the Giao Duyen duets above.
Do festivals happen in Sapa town or in the villages?
Almost all in the villages: Ta Van, Ban Ho, Ta Phin, Nam Sai. Town gets decorations at Christmas, New Year and Tet, but the real festivals are a valley walk or a short drive away.
Is there an entrance fee for Sapa festivals?
No. Festivals are free. Bring small cash for food stalls and crafts — buying from vendors is welcome, but a ticket booth is not part of the tradition.
The honest verdict
Sapa’s festivals are not put on for tourists — they are the valley’s own new year. We have sent plenty of guests down to Ta Van and Ban Ho over the years. The ones who loved it stood quietly at the edge and let the morning happen.
Time it right, and it is the most local thing you will ever do here.
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