tailieunhanh - Awareness of love for hometown through Bun Bang Fai (Rocket Festival) from collective memory of northeasterners in the southern border area of Thailand

Bun Bang Fai (Rocket Festival) of the Northeasterners in Phukhao Thong Subdistrict, Sukhirin District, Narathiwat Province is the only one tradition in the Southern part organized with a collective memory of migrants from the Northeastern part. The first rocket festival was in 1975 and the 38th festival was held in 2017. The festival is invented and reinvented activities in which Northeastern identities are used to decorate Bang Fai or rockets and included in the Bang Fai procession, Serng, a traditional quick-tempo dance and creation of Pha Daeng and Nang Ai representations in the ritual of fertility that is carried out to ask for less rain. The new generations of people have absorbed their being local Southerners so much that they forget their roots of being Northeasterners. Hence, the revival of Northeastern culture through Bun Bang Fai or the rocket festival is to raise awareness of love for hometown (the Northeastern part) with participation of the community through legends, beliefs, traditions, and the rituals of Bun Bang Fai. | Awareness of love for hometown through Bun Bang Fai (Rocket Festival) from collective memory of northeasterners in the southern border area of Thailand