The Akha Swing Festival

The Akha Swing Festival

Wi’s just returned from checking out the famous Akha Swing festival which recently took place in Chiang Rai Province’s Ban Pha Hee, a remote village west of Doi Tung on the Thai-Myanmar Border. She – as usual – came back with plenty of great pics so here’s a few examples along with an explanation of what the festival is all about and what goes on at this highly colourful Akha get together.

More correctly known as ‘Bo Chong Tu’ or ‘Yae Khuan A Fa Faew’, the festival takes place every year in early September coinciding, more or less, with the Akha New Year. It’s often seen as a highlight of their New Year festivities but the event is a lot more than just a particularly spectacular end of year bash and actually celebrates several significant moments in their calendar.  Firstly though, a brief rundown on the ethnic group, or hill-tribe, commonly referred to as the Akha. We did already post a more detailed article on the Akha people, so here’s just a brief recap.

Akha villages can be found in mountainous areas across a wide swathe of northern Southeast Asia, from Myanmar’s Shan State across Thailand’s Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai provinces into northern Laos with a few settlements even being found as far east as northern Vietnam. They are considered to originate from eastern Tibet and western Yunnan and Akha villages can still be found in those regions along with those of closely related minorities such as the Hani of southern Yunnan. Southwards migration into Myanmar, Laos and Thailand is a relatively recent phenomenon. although over 200,000 are now thought to reside in Myanmar with approximately 80,000 in both Thailand and Laos and 25,000 or so in northwestern Vietnam’s Dien Bien Phu region. The Akha people are classified as belonging to the Sino-Tibetan ethnic and linguistic families along with the Lisu and Lahu groups who occupy broadly similar ranges. Forms of both the Akha Swing Festival and their New Year celebrations will be taking place over much of that range with the Chiang Rai version being one of the most spectacular and readily accessible.

Chiang Rai Akha communities are further subdivided into three clans or subgroups, Ulo, Lomi and Pamee but whose villages are often found in close proximity to each other and their dialects are mutually comprehensible. They’re principally distinguished by differing styles of women’s headdresses with Lomi favouring more conical, pointed versions and Pamee generally adorning their headdresses with large silver or metal balls while Lomi sport a distinctive trapezoid back plate and rows of silver coins on the sides. All three groups come together at festival times while neighbouring Lahu, Lisu or Tai Yai, (Shan) villagers may also put in appearances.

Pha Hee village is extremely remote, being situated in Thailand’s northernmost district, Mae Sai, of its most northerly province, Chiang Rai. The village is located on the rear, western, slope of Doi Tung mountain overlooking Myanmar. (Incidentally, the jungle-clad range behind the village, Doi Nang Non, which separates it from the Mae Sai – Mae Chan – Chiang Rai lowlands to the east, houses Tham Luang, the cave made famous by the remarkable 2018 rescue of the trapped Thai schoolboy football team.)

There was a smattering of Thai visitors at the festival – most of whom appeared to be content providers making YouTube videos – although foreign tourists were few and far between. (The area is, as we said, very remote, its tricky to reach by public transport and the limited accommodation in the area is at a premium during festival times.)

The Akha Swing Festival itself involves a large ‘swing’ made from wooden poles to which cords or ropes, traditionally fabricated from tree bark or creepers, are attached. The structure can easily reach 15 metres in height and while it may appear terrifyingly flimsy, in so far as they do it every year, you’d have to assume they know what they’re doing. According to Akha mythology, their ancestors originally descended from the skies by swing, hence the structure’s significance, while the overall festival also celebrates the end of the annual planting season. It thus honours their fertility goddess Um Sa Ye, (or E-Um Sa Yae), with the hope that she’ll grant a bountiful harvest for the upcoming year.  (Note, many Akha villages in the region have turned to Christianity while some have remained animist. Belief systems are also frequently highly eclectic.) The fertility element clearly extends beyond crops and  the events are sometimes known as the Akha Women’s festival with participants in the high altitude swinging being usually, albeit not exclusively, female.

Needless to say the originally animist festival has taken on more prosaic aspects of late and for many – possibly the Christians among them – it’s just an excuse for a huge party with several days of traditional dance, music and local hooch consumption as well as a chance to show off their needlework and handicraft skills.  For younger, unmarried tribe members it’s also a great opportunity to meet eligible candidates from neighbouring villages. The swing displays have now become competitive with judges giving marks for style, height etc. The above pictured girl received excellent marks for height but the overall winner in Ban Pha Hee was an older woman, (featured image), who wowed the judges by singing a traditional Akha song while swirling around 10 metres off the ground.  (First prize was 500 baht – around $12.50.)

Festival details and indeed dates do vary from region to region and and it’s conceivable that much of the original meaning – especially among Christian Akhas – has been lost. This bunch clearly wouldn’t let that bother them and a great time seemed to be had by all. We’re also pretty certain that the fantastically dressed participants are more than happy to see themselves dancing, singing and swinging on any number of social media video clips.

As is often the case, varying dates and limited accommodation make organising trips to such events tricky so, while we can’t feature it on any standard Thai tour itinerary, given sufficient notice we can try our best to arrange something. Otherwise, opportunities to meet the Akha and visit one of their villages are included in our Hidden Thailand tour which features a 2 night stay in Mae Salong. This mountain-top village, also in Chiang Rai Province, forms a centre for the numerous surrounding Akha villages, many of whose residents are today involved in the tea and coffee industries.

Thanks to Wi for the photos.