Akha Festival to celebrate new farming season

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  Baan Apa, Mae Yao, Chiang Rai, Thailand
Friday, August 24, 2007

The Akha new farming season starts around mid August to early September. Every village decides on the exact date themselves after the elders meet and choose what they deem to be appropriate days. The festival last for 4 days and it is during this time that the old village swing in pulled down and a new one constructed. All the Akha in the village plus any guests can play on the swing during the time of the festival, but to touch it at another time of the year is to bring very bad luck.

Recently most Akha villages have been converted to Christianity by missionaries, but Baan Apa near Chiang Rai is one of the few remaining Akha villages where the traditional beliefs and practices still take place.

The festival this year started on the 19th and finished on the 22nd. I and some Mirror Foundation volunteers stayed at the village on the 19th and 20th and left on the morning of the 21st of August.

Attached are some pictures that hopefully tell you a bit about our stay.

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Somtam and local whiskey	Japanese volunteer Emi with Akha kids	Thellie	Japanese volunteer Naoko with Akha kids
Smiling	Big smile	Fun for all the family	Daow and Annette
Kids	Banging the bamboo	Ken, Daow and Emi	Still banging with bamboo
Fire	Thirsty work	Simon playing the local guitar	Picture version
Mayu and Naoko	Simon getting into the music again	Bong!	Dancing
Playing the drums	Daow and Annette	Getting the local drinks ready	Next morning swings everywhere
Cats	Making a swing	morning scenery	Akha love the King also
The spirit gate and the old swing	Aacha's son	Almost every house had a swing	Naoko on the swing
Swinging - my adopted daughter for the day	more	Happy with the new swing	Akha spirit gate
Preparing the site to bring the old swing	Men into the forrest to hunt a new swing   Comments!	Chopping	Copping 2
Apa village from a distance	Almost got it to the site	Low self esteem	Women collecting water from the spirit well
Second pole going up	Third pole	Positioning	Tying it together
Still finishing it off	Adding the hinge	The first swinger	good swinger
Akha dancing	tomorrow morning's breakfast	Akha dancing in afternoon	Aacha's wife
Akha women swinging	Akha swing pic	night shot	Dividing up the cows
Heads	Abu on the swing	Abu's video	Playing on the swing

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