(VOVWORLD) - The Co Lao, one of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic minority groups, has about 3,000 people. The group settled in Vietnam about 200 years ago and now lives mainly in the northern mountainous region.

(VOVWORLD) - The Ede ethnic minority people think that every water resource is managed by a genie. After each harvest and before each new crop, the Ede thank their water genies for blessing them with good weather and lots of luck. This shows their respect for water, the source of life.

(VOVWORLD) - The La Ha ethnic minority lives in Vietnam’s northwestern region where they farm and perform some unique customs and rituals, including a ceremony of new rice worshipping to remind the younger generation to appreciate rice.

(VOVWORLD) - Thousands of years ago, the lithophone emerged as a signature musical instrument of the Central Highlands. Local people call it a stone gong. The sound of the lithophone is sometime as deep as the forest, sometime as gentle as a brook. It can express the feeling of the instrumentalist and the state of their soul.

(VOVWORLD) - A Black Thai woman in Vietnam’s northwestern region ties her hair into a tall bun on top of her head to indicate that she has got married. A ritual is held to comb and tie up her hair before she goes to her husband’s house.

(VOVWORLD) - The Ede ethnic group in the Central Highlands consider the Che, a big jar, a symbol of family wealth and prosperity. A Che full of alcohol is an indispensable item at all worship ceremonies. When they buy, sell, or give a Che away as a present, both the giver and the receiver perform a ritual to inform the family genies and ancestors of the event. It’s a custom of the Mdhur and Blo branches of Ede in Dac Lac province.

(VOVWORLD) - The Jarai people in Gia Lai province have maintained many traditional handicrafts, such as weaving brocade fabric and making musical instruments, bamboo papooses, and pineapple-leaf mats. In recent years, the local women’s union has worked with Jarai artisans to teach young people to make mats in order to preserve this traditional craft.

(VOVWORLD) - The M’Nong have lived in Dac Nong province for a very long time. They have created worship ceremonies to express their hopes and aspirations. Their worship of the village gate prays for good weather, a bumper crop, and food sufficiency.

(VOVWORLD) - In the last month of the lunar year, ethnic people in A Luoi mountain district of Thua Thien Hue province celebrate Aza, the New Rice Festival. It’s one of the most sacred religious events of the Pako and Ta Oi groups.

(VOVWORLD) - “Ruou can” is an indispensible rice wine at important events such as the New Year celebration of ethnic people in the Central Highlands. Several weeks before the Lunar New Year, the Ede people of Dak Lak province begin to distill wine to serve their relatives and friends.