Normally, the festival is held every year from October 16th to the end of January 15th of the following lunar year in order to pray for peace and prosperity.

The festival is divided into two parts, including the worshiping ceremony during 3-4 hours before sunset and dance fire during 1 hour after dark.

Pa Then fire dancing ritual in Thuong Minh Hamlet, Hong Quang Commune, Lam Binh District.

In the part one of the festival, the village’s shaman announces the official reasons to host the festival and invites gods to attend the ritual with locals. The shaman sits on a bench, spends 5-7 hours holding a stick and knocking repeatedly on the iron instrument.

In the part two of the ritual, when the fire begins to weaken, leaving a glowing coal pile, participants bend their bodies and jump on burning charcoals without any hesitation. They dance on live coals with their bare feet. Sometimes they put a live coal in their mouth.

The mystery of the dance is that despite dancing on blazing-hot coal, the dancers never suffer from any burns. Pa Then people believe that they are protected by their God during the ritual.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has added this festival to the list of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2012 in order to preserve and promote the values of unique cultural heritage of the Pa Then people in Lam Binh.