How to Visit Ban Thach Mat Village

Ban Thach Mat Village was established in the 16th century by Vietnamese families moving from Nga Son, a famous village/district which has a long tradition of sedge mat making in northern province Thanh Hoa. While Hoi An played its role as an international trading port, production activities are very busy here, as same as Thanh Ha Pottery Village, Kim Bong Carpentry Village, Phuoc Kieu Bronze Casting Village.

In 1980s, sedge mats made in Ban Thach Mat Village were exported to the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. This is the golden age of the village. In 2004, it’s recognized to be a traditional craft village by the government, which had over 350 households making mats. Up to date, after many ups and downs, there are only 35 households remaining. The area of sedge fields also reduced, from 100 hectares down to 10 hectares.

The sedge season often is in March and April at Ban Thach Mat Village. In the next months, local artisans here will collect the sedges and then sun dry them (on the yards, roads or anywhere empty). After that, dried sedge are dyed with different colors because people want to have colorful mats to easily sell later. A traditional loom and other manual tools will be used to weave. If join a tour to this part of Hoi An (such as Cam Kim Island), visitors will visit a local family and try hand at mat weaving (with instruction of artisans). If looking for new and unique experiences, we highly recommend you to go for a tour with mat weaving (and rice paper making, cycling,…). See full process to make a sedge mat