The festival is celebrated to welcome the new harvest of Pà Thẻn. It is normally organized from the middle of lunar October, after harvest, until the end of the traditional Têt.
The population of the ethnos group Pà Thẻn has approximately 5.000 people who live primarily in Bac Giang district (Bắc Giang), Ha Giang province (Hà Giang) and Chiem Hoa (Chiêm Hóa), Tuyen Quang (Tuyên Quang).
They still safeguard many traditional festivals among which on-fire-dance festival is the most original and mysterious.
The festival is celebrated to welcome the new harvest of Pà Thẻn. It is normally organized from the middle of lunar October, after harvest, until the end of the traditional Têt. To start, a wizard celebrates ceremonies to pray the gods.
The offerings are made up of an incense rods vase, a chicken, ten glasses of wine, paper moneys. A large fire is lit and the wizard begins the ceremonies. The ceremonies last during one or two hours before the festival. When the wizard celebrates the ceremonies, each one among the young people sit in front of him. It is the rite to enter in fright.
Then, they dance on fire without being flared. Each one dances during 3 or 4 minutes, and enters in fright again.
Each one can dance several times to test the force, the ability and the speed. This festival is just reserved to the young men and they are always admired and applauded by everyone.