The drum beating competition and exchange program at the Gam Temple Festival recently took place in Xuan Thanh Commune (Yen Thanh). On the festival stage as well as in front of Gam Temple, people and tourists enjoyed many drum beating performances by teams and individuals from hamlets inside and outside the commune.
This year’s festival attracted many children to compete and exchange in drumming, among whom Nguyen Canh Dat was the youngest, a kindergarten student, but was commented by many to be “super good” at drumming. Dat held the whole set of big drums, making the audience excited and admiring…
On the festival stage and in the middle of Gam temple yard, Dat wore a red ao dai, a turban on his head, and was surrounded by a large drum, confidently leading the drum team.
The audience gathered around to cheer, many people took pictures with their phones and broadcasted them live on social media. The 3-beat drum performance ended with enthusiastic applause and cheers from the audience. Many fans rushed onto the field to hug the boy, give him gifts, and praise him…
Ms. Thai Thi Ha - Dat's mother shared that Dat is the youngest child in a family of 5 siblings. His parents are farmers, no one in the family knows how to play drums, but he loves playing drums.
Dat learned to play drums at the age of 2. Every time he went to the family church, he saw adults playing the sacrificial drums and liked it very much. When he went home, he learned to play it himself. Dat's father went to the family church and borrowed a broken drum, brought it home and placed it in the middle of the yard for his son to practice playing.
Every day, after school, Dat would make friends with the broken drum, struggling to learn by himself because there was no one at home to guide him.
Before the Gam Temple Festival took place, some people in the neighborhood discussed with Dat's family to let him participate in the drum beating competition.
Because the child is still young, the family is afraid that children "sometimes agree and sometimes disagree and ruin the work of adults", so the child's family let him go to the drum ceremony to exchange and not participate in the competition.
The drumming competition usually takes place for a few hours, while the drumming exchange lasts all day and night. At Gam temple yard, the drum set is ready, and there are always people coming to play.
People here play drums all afternoon, and play until late at night before stopping. When Dat arrived, he boldly approached the drum set. When he played the drums, the surrounding audience exclaimed, "Wow, that's great."
The drum performances at the festival with Dat's participation always attract enthusiastic viewers and cheers.
According to local people, drumming often involves the coordination of many musical instruments such as big drum, small drum, gong, nao, trumpet, two-stringed fiddle, etc.
When the big drum plays, it must create rhythms, beats, and variations, forcing the drummer to beat the small drum in a rhythmic manner.
The drummer must understand the rules of the sacrificial drum in order to play it most accurately, like the conductor of a band.
“Dat is quite obedient and active. Seeing him play the sacrificial drum and being praised by many people, the family is also happy. This year we will let him practice, hopefully with the help of the uncles and brothers in the neighborhood, next year he will be able to take on the position of holding the big drum to compete at the Gam Temple Festival” – Dat’s mother, Ms. Ha, happily shared.
This is not the first time that child drummers have appeared on the stage of the Gam Temple Festival. In previous festivals, many children have participated in beating the drums.
However, Dat's performance on the big drum is more special and unique because he plays quite smoothly, in the right rhythm, expressing the spirit of the tiny person holding the drum.
Mr. Le Khac Dinh - member of the jury of the festival drum beating competition of Gam Temple - Pagoda, Xuan Thanh commune said: "Drum beating is a beautiful feature in the traditional culture of the people of Xuan Thanh commune in particular and Yen Thanh in general. To me, Dat has a special talent, although he is still young, he plays the drum very well, breathing life into the rich melodic drum beats. People like Dat have been continuing, promoting and strongly spreading the unique drum beating movement of his homeland"./.
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