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What is Hmong New Year – and how is it celebrated in the modern day?

For the Hmong ethnic group, the New Year festival in northern Laos’ Phonsavan is the perfect time to don your finest, honour your clan and go in search of The One

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A Hmong woman stands among the ancient stones of the Plain of Jars (Site 1),
outside Phonsavan. The Hmong New Year celebration in Phonsavan, the largest of its kind in Laos, sees young Hmong men and women mix and match traditional attire with modern accessories. Photo: Nicolas Bosoni

Published: 6:15pm, 6 Feb 2025

The Hmong New Year, or Noj Peb Caug in the Hmong language, is a vibrant celebration marking the end of the agricultural season and the start of a new year, traditionally aligned with the new moon in late December.

The Hmong are a diverse ethnic group spread across the mountains of northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and into southern China, where they lived for centuries between the Yangtze and Mekong rivers, before being displaced by political and social upheaval.

A Hmong man stands on a hill overlooking the New Year festival. He met his new girlfriend there three days earlier. The Hmong New Year is considered a particularly auspicious time to look for a partner. Photo: Nicolas Bosoni

They have maintained a distinct identity, however, with their own language, writing and culture, even as they have adapted to life in the hills of Southeast Asia.

Roughly midway along their current cultural swathe, the Hmong have historically populated the Lao uplands in the northern part of the country.

Women dressed in traditional attire that combines intricate embroidery and patterns unique to their Hmong subgroup, along with contemporary embellishments. The Hmong people are a diverse ethnic group that includes the White Hmong (Hmoob Dawb), Green Hmong (Hmoob Leeg), Striped Hmong (Hmoob Txaij Npab) and Black Hmong (Hmoob Dub), among others. Photo: Nicolas Bosoni

In the 1970s, after the “secret war” in Laos – a covert United States-backed conflict during the Vietnam war – tens of thousands of Hmong fled persecution and resettled abroad, forming significant diaspora communities, especially in the US, France and Australia.