Pu Tong: The Sacred Fire Dancing Festival of the Red Dao in Sapa

High in the misty mountains of northern Vietnam, the Red Dao people welcome the Lunar New Year with a ritual that is both mesmerising and deeply spiritual.  Known as Pu Tong, or the fire dancing festival, this ceremony is a sacred act of devotion, protection and cultural continuity.

Taking place in villages around Sapa, the ritual features men throwing and dancing barefoot over burning embers, seemingly unharmed by the intense heat.  To outsiders, it can feel mysterious and even supernatural.  To the Red Dao, it is a powerful expression of faith, ancestral connection and community identity.

What Is the Pu Tong Festival?

Pu Tong is a traditional spiritual ceremony performed by the Red Dao people during the Lunar New Year period, typically between the first and fifteenth day of the new year.  It is organised to invite blessings, ward off misfortune and protect the village from illness and harmful spirits.

The ceremony centres around the alter and fire, which is seen as a sacred and purifying force.  Through ritual chanting, trance and physical endurance, participants demonstrate their spiritual strength and their connection to protective deities.

Pu Tong is a ritual believed to strengthen the entire community’s wellbeing for the year ahead.

The Meaning Behind Fire in Red Dao Belief

For the Red Dao, fire symbolises life, purification and protection.  It is thought to have the power to cleanse negative energy and keep evil spirits at bay.

Walking across the burning embers is not considered an act of bravery alone.  Instead, it is a sacred test of spiritual readiness.  Those who perform the dance believe they are protected by ancestral spirits and divine forces.  The ability to step onto fire without injury is seen as proof of this protection.

The ritual represents:

• Renewal at the start of a new year

• Spiritual strength and resilience

• Protection for families and the village

• Gratitude to ancestors and deities

Who Participates in Pu Tong?

Participation in the fire dance is not open to everyone.  It is reserved for selected men in the community who have undergone spiritual preparation or have a connection to ritual practice.

Key participants include:

Shamans and Ritual Leaders

A respected spiritual leader, often a shaman, presides over the ceremony.  He performs chants, prayers and invocations to call ancestral spirits and protective deities.  His role is to guide participants into a trance-like state believed to shield them from harm.

Male Dancers

The dancers are typically young men chosen for their spiritual sensitivity or lineage.  Some may have trained for years.  When the ceremony begins, they enter a trance induced by rhythmic drumming, chanting and incense smoke.

In this state, they step onto and kick glowing coals, throw embers and move energetically through the fire.  Despite the danger, burns are rare.  The community attributes this to spiritual protection.

The Community

Villagers gather to witness, pray and celebrate.  Women, elders and children participate through preparation of offerings and communal feasting.  The ceremony belongs to the whole village, not just the dancers.

The Ritual Process

The Pu Tong ceremony follows a structured spiritual sequence:

1. Preparation of the fire.  A large fire is built and allowed to burn down into a bed of glowing coals.

2. Invocation.  The shaman calls on ancestors and spirits through chanting and ritual offerings.

3. Trance induction.  Drumming, movement and prayer help participants enter a spiritual state.

4. Fire dancing.  Men step barefoot onto the coals, dancing and kicking embers in symbolic acts of strength and purification.

5. Sacrifice and offering. After the dancing and the throwing of embers, six cockerels are sacrificed as offerings of gratitude and protection. This act symbolises respect to the spirits and marks the successful completion of the ritual. 

6. Blessing.  The ritual concludes with prayers for prosperity, health and protection in the coming year.

Each stage holds deep symbolic meaning, reinforcing the relationship between the human world and the spirit realm.

Why Pu Tong Is So Significant

The Pu Tong festival remains one of the most important cultural and spiritual traditions of the Red Dao for several reasons.

A Link to Ancestors

The ritual is believed to honour and invite the presence of ancestors, who are central to Red Dao spiritual life.  Through Pu Tong, the living show respect and seek guidance for the year ahead.

Protection for the Community

At the start of a new year, villagers ask for protection from illness, bad luck and natural hardship.  The fire ritual acts as a spiritual safeguard.

Cultural Identity and Continuity

In a rapidly changing world, Pu Tong helps preserve Red Dao traditions.  It strengthens identity, passes knowledge between generations and reaffirms shared beliefs.

A Test of Spiritual Power

The ability to walk across fire is seen as a visible sign of spiritual connection.  It reinforces faith and trust in traditional practices.

Pu Tong in the Modern Era

Today, the fire dancing festival sometimes attracts visitors to Sapa who come to witness its intensity and beauty.  While tourism has brought attention to the ceremony, many villages maintain its sacred nature and perform it primarily for spiritual reasons rather than for display.

For the Red Dao, Pu Tong is not a spectacle.  It is a living ritual.  It is a moment when the boundaries between the human and spirit worlds feel closest.

A Ceremony of Renewal and Strength

At its heart, Pu Tong is about beginning the new year with courage, unity and spiritual protection.  The sight of dancers moving confidently across fire symbolises resilience in the face of hardship and trust in ancestral guidance.

For the Red Dao people, the ritual is a powerful reminder.  The community stands strong, protected by its traditions, its spirits and its shared belief in renewal.

Red Dao New Year in Sapa: Rituals, Feasts and Traditional Dress at Tết

Lunar New Year is a deeply spiritual season for the Red Dao people of Sapa. It is a time when the household is spiritually renewed, ancestors are invited home, and the whole villages move through a sequence of rituals that blend belief, family life and celebration.

These days, the Red Dao share the same lunar calendar as the rest of Vietnam, but their customs during Tết are distinctive. Herbal cleansing baths, unique humpback shaped rice cakes, elaborate ancestral offerings and communal feasting all form part of a New Year that is both traditional and joyful.

Preparing for the New Year

Traditional Tết offerings prepared for the Red Dao ancestral altar, including a boiled chicken, sliced pork and ritual foods arranged on banana leaves.

Red Dao boys wearing indigo traditional clothing with embroidered detail, preparing for the New Year celebrations in a mountain village in Sapa.

Hands wrapping bánh chưng gù, the Red Dao humpback sticky rice cake, in forest leaves as part of New Year food preparations.

Preparations begin well before the last day of the lunar year. Homes are thoroughly cleaned, especially the ancestral altar. Red paper cuttings and handmade votive paper are placed around the altar to protect the household from misfortune and invite good luck.

Food preparation is central to this period. Pork is essential for ancestral offerings, and families ensure they have a pig ready for the celebrations. Women lead the making of the Red Dao’s distinctive Tet cake, bánh chưng gù, a small humpback shaped sticky rice cake wrapped in forest leaves. At the same time, women and girls finish embroidery on traditional clothing so that everyone will be properly dressed for the new year.

Everything must be ready before New Year’s Eve because once the new year begins, it is believed that opening cupboards, lending objects or cleaning the house risks losing good fortune.

New Year’s Eve: Herbal Cleansing and Quiet Reflection

On the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, the Red Dao carry out one of their most recognisable rituals. Forest herbs are boiled to create a medicinal bath. Each member of the family washes in this herbal water to remove the old year’s bad luck and prepare spiritually for the new one.

After bathing, everyone dresses in full traditional clothing. The evening is calm and reflective. Families remain inside their homes as midnight approaches.

Midnight: Welcoming the Ancestors Home

At midnight, the family gathers before the ancestral altar. Offerings of pork, chicken, rice cakes, wine and incense are laid out carefully. The head of the household lights incense and recites prayers to invite the ancestors to return home to celebrate Tết with their descendants.

A bowl of blessed water is shared among family members for health and protection in the coming year. Nobody leaves the house during this sacred transition from one year to the next.

Dawn of the First Day: Signs of Fortune

At dawn, family members step outside to collect a fresh green branch which symbolises spring and renewal. A chicken is boiled and its feet are examined carefully. The appearance of the claws is believed to foretell the family’s fortune in the year ahead.

The Great Ancestral Offering and First Feast

The largest ancestral offering of the year is then presented. A pig’s head, chicken, bánh chưng gù, sticky rice, wine and other dishes are placed on the altar. Prayers ask for health, good harvests and prosperity.

After the ceremony, the offerings are taken down and shared as the first meal of the year. Relatives, neighbours and friends are invited to join. The Red Dao believe that a crowded house on the first day brings good fortune, so the celebration often moves from house to house across the village.

A multi-generational Red Dao family sharing a festive meal. The setting feels intimate and celebratory, reflecting the first communal feast of the New Year.

Three Red Dao women wearing embroidered clothing sit together at a table covered with home-cooked dishes. They smile warmly in a dimly lit wooden interior, with bowls of soup, meat, and herbs arranged in front of them, capturing a moment of hospitality and shared celebration during the New Year meal.

Tết Nhảy: The Fire Jumping Ceremony

One of the most extraordinary elements of Red Dao New Year is Tết Nhảy, also known as Pút Tồng. This clan ceremony combines ritual dance, music and a dramatic fire jumping performance.

Led by a shaman, young men perform a series of sacred dances to invite the ancestors and gods to join the celebration. The ceremony builds towards the fire dance, where participants lift flaming papers and leap barefoot across glowing embers. This act symbolises courage, purification and the burning away of bad luck.

Tết Nhảy is recognised as an important element of Red Dao cultural heritage and different to that of the Hmong or in other Vietnamese New Year traditions.

Red Dao man dancing on embers in a family home.

Songs, Games and Teaching the Dao Script

Beyond rituals, the New Year is also a social and educational season. Elders use the first days of the year to teach children the ancient Dao characters and share stories about their ancestors.

The Striking Traditional Dress of the Red Dao

Traditional clothing is an essential part of Tết. Women wear indigo tunics richly embroidered with bright patterns, black trousers decorated with geometric stitching, and the iconic red headscarf with tassels and silver jewellery. Men wear indigo jackets with red accents and headscarves.

Wearing traditional dress honours the ancestors, expresses cultural pride and is believed to bring good luck for the year ahead.

A young Red Dao girl wearing an indigo embroidered tunic and decorative collar, dressed in traditional clothing for the New Year in Sapa.

An elderly Red Dao woman wearing the iconic red headscarf, indigo tunic and embroidered panels that symbolise cultural identity and heritage.

A Red Dao child in traditional indigo clothing with colourful embroidered trim, dressed for Tết celebrations in a mountain village.

A New Year Rooted in Memory and Identity

For the Red Dao of Sapa, Tết is a celebration, the renewal of family ties, spiritual belief and cultural identity carried forward from one generation to the next. Through ritual, food, clothing and community, the Red Dao step together into the new year with hope and deep respect for their past.

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Red Dao Baby Hats A Mother’s Love Stitched into Tradition

A Living Culture of Craft

Red Dao women are known for their incredible skills in hand embroidery. Every stitch is full of patience and pride. Textiles are part of daily life in the mountains, not only for beauty but also for cultural identity and protection. When a child is born, a mother begins one of the most meaningful pieces she will ever make. The baby hat.

Why Babies Need Protection

In Red Dao belief, young children are still growing their spirit. From one month to around five years old, they can fall ill very easily because bad spirits may come close. Mothers believe that a handmade hat with symbols and colour will help protect their children while their spirit becomes stronger.

More Than Decoration

The colourful patterns are full of meaning. A baby girl often has a more embroidered hat with bright colours and special symbols. Boys usually wear hats with three colours such as red, black and purple.

Coins, beads and pom poms decorate the hat so it catches the eye. Inside the embroidery, the mother often places medicinal herbs which are believed to support health and keep away bad spirits. When a hat dances with colour, it looks like a flower. A bad spirit, seeing a flower instead of a baby, will leave the child alone. The hat becomes both a shield and a disguise.

Made by a Mother’s Hands

Most hats are made by the child’s mother. Sometimes a grandmother helps, especially if she has greater experience with symbols. The design is personal to the family and protects the child every day, not only on festival occasions. Children wear their hats while playing, walking, resting and even being carried on their mother’s back.

Childhood to Independence

When children reach about five years old, they stop wearing the baby hat because their spirit is stronger. They begin to learn about their culture in other ways. Clothing remains important but the secret spirit protection of the hat has already done its job.

A Beautiful Tradition to Cherish

These hats are not just decoration. They are a sign of love, a prayer for protection and a reminder that every child is precious. The Red Dao baby hat shows the care of mothers who have protected children in the mountains for generations.

The Rice Harvest in Sapa: Tradition and Community

The Rhythm of the Terraces

Every year in Sapa, the rhythm of life follows the rice terraces. The harvest is a seasonal anchor for Hmong and Dao families, shaping both work and tradition.

When the Harvest Begins

In the lower valleys, cutting starts as early as August, while the higher terraces wait until September. Altitude and weather shift the calendar, but the pattern remains the same: early mornings, hands on sickles, and sheaves carried to dry in the sun.

Ceremony and Meaning

The harvest is not only practical but also ceremonial.

Offering the First Rice

A small portion of the first grains is always set aside for the ancestors and for the spirits of field and water. At the household altar, incense is lit and quiet words are spoken in thanks. These simple rituals bind the community to the land and to generations past.

Working Together

Labour is shared within and between families, keeping old traditions alive.

The Circle of Support

Neighbours and relatives trade days, helping each other through the long hours in the fields. Threshing is often done with simple wooden frames, the rhythm steady and slow. Machines sometimes appear, but on the steep terraces handwork still rules.

A Living Landscape

For visitors, the harvest is a time when the terraces are alive with colour and movement.

Beauty and Survival

Golden fields ripple in the wind as farmers work side by side, their voices carrying across the valleys. What may look like ordinary labour is in fact the heart of the year, deciding food, family, and community.

The Living Blue: Indigo Traditions of Sapa’s Hmong & Dao Communities

Indigo as Identity

Step into the hills of Sapa and you will notice a colour that lingers on hands, fabric and memory: the deep, living blue of indigo. Among the Hmong and Dao communities, indigo is far more than a dye. It is identity, tradition and a quiet act of resistance. Families grow it in their gardens, tending the plants season after season, and transforming them into cloth that carries memory and meaning.

Secrets Passed Through Generations

For generations, women have carefully passed down the secrets of indigo. They know how to ferment the leaves, how to coax the blue from green, and how to fold and wax fabric for batik. These skills speak not only of beauty but of belonging. They are not staged performances for visitors, but everyday acts of care, creativity and survival.

Learning Through Experience

When you join an ETHOS trek or take part in one of our batik workshops, you are invited into this living tradition. You might feel the texture of wax on cloth, stir the indigo vat, or hear stories carried in the rising scent of the dye. It is not about mastering a technique. It is about meeting the land and its people with presence and respect.

Why Slow Travel Matters

Slow travel gives space for this kind of learning. It lingers under your fingernails and stays with you long after the colour fades. It is a chance to connect deeply, not only with a craft, but with the people and place that sustain it.

Join the Journey

We would love to welcome you on a journey that honours both land and lineage. Come walk, sit, listen and learn with us in Sapa.

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