Preserving and promoting the Cham Kate Festival to serve tourism development.

BTO-People's Committee of Binh Thuan province has just approved the Project to Preserve and Promote the Kate Festival of Cham people in Binh Thuan province to serve tourism development.

Kate Festival has a long history of formation and existence and is maintained until today. Kate Festival takes place annually (from the end of June to the middle of July of the Cham calendar) in a very large space according to traditional rituals. Kate Festival takes place first at temples and towers, then in Cham villages, the families of monks, dignitaries and Cham Brahmin families.

Kate is a big festival, of great significance, affecting many aspects of the spiritual beliefs, religion, and emotions of the Cham Brahman community. At the same time, this is an important part of the intangible cultural heritage of the Cham people; reflecting many aspects of culture, customs, and arts related to the daily life and economic , cultural and social life of the Cham people. The Kate festival deeply reflects the traditional folk cultural values of the Cham Brahman community, expressing respect and gratitude for the merits of the gods, grandparents, and ancestors who created, protected, and sheltered their descendants to be healthy, have a peaceful, prosperous, and happy life...

Kate Festival is one of the five unique festivals of the province included in the List of typical local festivals that need to be preserved and promoted to serve tourism development. In particular, on April 4, 2022, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Decision No. 776/QD-BVHTTDL to include the Kate Festival of the Cham people of Binh Thuan province in the List of national intangible cultural heritage. Compared to other festivals in the province, the Kate Festival is large-scale, lasting for days, taking place in many different spaces and times, the participants of the festival are quite diverse, not only the Cham community (Cham people following Brahmanism and Cham people following Bani religion) inside and outside the province, but also with the participation of ethnic minorities living nearby such as: Kinh, Raglai, Coho, Hoa, Tay, Nung, ... and tourists.

However, the Kate Festival still has certain limitations in management and organization such as: The landscape environment, the space of temples, towers, and village houses - where the Kate Festival takes place have not received adequate investment, renovation, and upgrading; propaganda and promotion of the unique features of the Kate Festival have not been focused on... Preserving and sustainably promoting the unique folk cultural values of the Kate Festival to meet the needs of religious and belief activities of the Cham community; at the same time, aiming to turn the Kate Festival into a unique and attractive tourism product that attracts people and domestic and foreign tourists.

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