Hmong New Year 2019 in Ban Pa Klang

In 2019 in the village Ban Pa Klang in Nan province, North Thailand was celebrated the Hmong New Year. Now you will be wondering Hmong New Year? Well ethnic minorities of Hmong people come originally from China and settled in North Thailand in areas of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Nan province. And they celebrate New Year on a bit different date as Thai New Year or Western New Year (yes many new years in Thailand!). The exact days change per year as it is a moon-calendar festival but it is celebrated in end December or begin January. The Hmong call it Nor Pae Jow and it is celebrated after the harvesting of the rice. So the festival is a combination of the Harvesting Festival and New Year Festival. But not all villages do it like that. In most villages the festival will take 3 or 4 days but some other villages celebrate it as long as 10 days. A important part of the celebrations is to show & respect the cultural traditions of the Hmong authentic costumes and games to be played. The show of traditional costumes is a photographers paradis with a rainbow of colours.

In the village Ban Pha Klang in 2019 it was celebrated from 9 to 12 January with local Hmong customs like the throwing of a small ball between girls and boys. This is a kind of game where the youngsters can show if they are interested in each-other. The ladies are wearing silver made jewellery's what can be worth a year salary, even nowadays. In Ban Pa Klang you will still see older people wearing the traditional cloths, that are all hand made by themselves. Following are some photos I made when we did visit this festival. If you like to go to Ban Pa Klang then have a look at About Ban Pa Klang, for more information about Nan province see Destination Travel Guide Nan. If you like to experience the slow life & culture of Pua in Nan province, then come and stay a few days at Non Na Pua Homestay (just 6 km from Ban Pa Klang).