Careful to preserve the originality of the festival

The 2025 festival season has marked a strong transformation when digital technology is widely applied to organization and management activities. Not only helping to improve the experience of visitors, technology applications such as e-tickets, cashless payments, and virtual reality have contributed to creating a more transparent, safe, and modern festival season.

However, according to experts, when applying technology to festivals, it should be done carefully, avoiding overuse that would destroy the spirit and original meaning of the festival...

Fast, accurate and transparent

This year's Huong Pagoda Festival (My Duc, Hanoi) took place in a more orderly manner, with no more traffic jams on Yen Stream and Thien Tru Pagoda. The situation of soliciting, harassing tourists, and forcing them to pay extra for the boat fare also did not recur thanks to the well-managed and operated boat system.

The Organizing Committee has integrated scenic tickets and boat services into the same QR code to ensure convenience for visitors, reduce ticket issuance and control points, and strictly implement legal regulations. Boat owners only need to use the app to scan the QR code from the boat passengers' tickets. Thus, visitors may not need to use cash for the entire festival journey.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Bui Van Trieu - Head of the Management Board of Huong Son Relics and Landscapes said that this is a very important task of the Organizing Committee of the Huong Pagoda Festival in 2025. When applying digital transformation to management work, serving tourists to visit and worship Buddha has become more thoughtful and civilized, tourists have access to services in the most accurate and fastest way, more transparently, and timely and best support for tourists.

Tourists use QR code tickets when taking the cable car to Huong Pagoda (My Duc, Hanoi). Photo: Xuan Hoa.

At the Tran Temple Seal Opening Ceremony in the Year of the Snake, according to the reporter's records, the ceremony took place in a disciplined, solemn, safe, economical manner, ensuring traditional rituals, bringing good emotions at the beginning of Spring to the worshipers. The seals were engraved with the words "Tran Dynasty Classic" and "Tich Phuc Vo Cuong". The four words "Tich Phuc Vo Cuong" on the seals are the Tran Dynasty bestowing blessings on their descendants, teaching their descendants, hundreds of families to know how to preserve moral qualities, accumulate blessings, the thicker the blessings, the more sustainable the blessings. To avoid jostling, pushing, and crowding in one area, this year the Organizing Committee also livestreamed the seal opening ceremony on a large screen so that people who could not enter the ceremony area could watch it live.

At Tay Ho Palace, Tay Ho District (Hanoi), the Tay Ho Palace Management Board has also applied digital technology in vehicle parking and sales services, aiming towards cashless use. Visitors only need to use QR codes to pay and learn about historical values ​​at the relic. This has helped the Tay Ho Palace Management Board control the number of visitors, manage service prices and revenue sources, etc.

Mr. Duong Thanh Hai - Vice Chairman of Quang An Ward People's Committee said that the Ward People's Committee has developed a plan for the management of relics in the area, as well as a very methodical digital transformation plan. Through the implementation of digital transformation at Tay Ho Palace, it has been highly appreciated by the people, bringing convenience to tourists when coming to worship and visit.

Many cultural experts and organizers and managers believe that the application of digital technology like this needs to be recognized and expanded. Applying technology in organizing and managing festivals not only helps control the number of visitors, manage service prices and revenue, but is also a solution to limit the shortcomings, negativity and chaos during days when relics are overloaded.

Magnificent with 3D mapping technology at the 2025 Dong Da Mound Festival. Photo: Ly Ly.

Dr. Tran Huu Son - Institute of Applied Folk Culture Research highly appreciated the changes when applying digital transformation to festival management and organization this year. "This year's festival season, many places have applied digital transformation in festival management and organization, this is a very good and necessary thing to do. Digital transformation not only contributes to festival promotion but also helps to improve management, people feel more civilized and convenient when participating in festivals" - Mr. Son said.

Enhance the experience

The application of digital technology in festival organization also contributes to enhancing the experience for visitors, creating a strong attraction for the tourism industry. Many festivals now apply virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) to help visitors have a more intuitive and vivid view of the festival space. In addition, mobile applications and digital maps provide detailed information and support directions, helping visitors easily access the event. Cashless payment and online ticket booking also bring convenience and reduce congestion.

On the evening of March 8, at the relic complex of Truong Lam communal house and pagoda (Viet Hung ward, Long Bien district, Hanoi), the program "Linh Lang - Sacred air converges - Long Bien shines" will take place. The art exchange program will display the intangible cultural heritage of Linh Lang Dai Vuong relics, presented in a semi-realistic form, combined with unique 3D mapping technology, to promote heritage values ​​and develop the capital's cultural industry.

The program's general director Mai Thanh Tung shared that the program is presented in a semi-realistic format combined with 3D mapping technology. The music has folk and modern sounds and the lighting technology shows the flow of history throughout many stages, promising to bring interesting and unique experiences to the people and visitors.

The festival celebrating the 236th anniversary of the Ngoc Hoi - Dong Da Victory (Dong Da district, Hanoi) was held on January 5. This year, for the first time, the festival opened in the evening, with a semi-realistic art program applying modern technology to recreate history in a vivid and engaging way.

The highlight of the art program is the “Dong Da - A Golden History - A Steady Future”, combining semi-traditional live art and advanced 3D mapping technology. Details of the lightning-fast march, the heroic battle and the triumphant march were realistically recreated through lighting effects, music and special art performances.

Ms. Dang Thi Mai - Chief of Office of the People's Council and People's Committee of Dong Da District said that digital transformation is an inevitable trend that must be implemented in the current era of 4.0 technology development. Culture is a fundamental and core issue, and it cannot be slow or behind other fields. "Digital transformation, applying new scientific and technological achievements to preserve, maintain, develop and spread cultural values ​​in general and cultural heritage in particular, opens up big doors for the world to know more about the advanced Vietnamese culture with strong identity" - Ms. Mai shared.

Preserving the spirit and essence of the festival

Applying technology in organizing and managing festivals is a new approach that needs to be maintained and expanded. However, according to experts, when applying technology to festivals, it should be done with consideration, avoiding overuse to the point of losing the inherent traditional features.

According to MSc. Nguyen Dac Toi - former Head of the Heritage Research Department (Institute for Cultural and Development Studies), festival organizers need to conduct thorough research before deploying technology, consulting with cultural researchers, folk artists and local communities. Technology should be used as a tool to support the experience, helping to spread traditional cultural values, not to replace or distort the original meaning of the festival.

“Preserving traditional cultural identity in the context of digital transformation is not about eliminating technology, but about using technology skillfully to support the preservation and promotion of cultural values. Digital technology can help enhance the experience, optimize the organization and preservation of heritage, but it needs to be applied carefully so as not to lose the original spirit and meaning of the festival. Only when modern technology and traditional values ​​are harmoniously combined can festivals develop sustainably in the digital age,” said Mr. Toi.

According to Dr. Tran Huu Son, in the process of digital transformation and application of digital technology, it is necessary to pay attention to preserving the cultural identity of each locality and each ethnic group. The organization must respect the community. Do not use the knowledge of one region to impose on another region, but must start from the characteristics and features of the community there.

Despite the challenges, it must be admitted that the application of digital technology to festivals is an inevitable trend, helping to improve the organization, ensure transparency and bring new experiences to visitors. In the future, the harmonious combination of modern technology and traditional values ​​will be the key for festivals to both preserve cultural identity and meet the increasing needs of visitors in the digital age. However, as experts advise, we must be very careful to avoid distorting the original meaning of the festival.

Dr. Bui Hoai Son - Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education.

Support, not dominate

Dr. Bui Hoai Son - Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education said that the application of technology to festival activities is an inevitable trend in modern society. There are traditional festivals that are little known, limited to a village or a region, but thanks to the support of technology, especially online media and social networks, these festivals are gradually spreading.

Some localities have applied virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to recreate traditional festival spaces. For example, at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel relic site, visitors can completely use AR technology to see the scenes of ancient royal festivals right on their phone screens. This is a very creative way, both preserving traditional values ​​and creating new experiences.

However, if technology is abused without control, the festival can lose its authenticity and become far from its original value. Some places turn the festival into a grand event with too many modern stage performances and bright lights, to the point of overshadowing important traditional rituals. Therefore, the important thing is not whether to use technology or not, but to use it harmoniously and selectively.

We can apply technology to better manage and preserve heritage, but we should not let technology overwhelm the original value of the festival. Technology needs to be placed in its proper position as a supporting tool, not a dominant factor.

Cultural researcher Ngo Huong Giang.

Humans are still the core of all cultural creation and transformation.

Cultural researcher Ngo Huong Giang believes that applying digital transformation to management is an inevitable objective trend, especially in the cultural field. This application contributes to reducing the administrative process in the management of cultural activities, creating a clear legal corridor in business activities associated with festivals. Along with that, it creates transparency in the management of cultural resources from local festival activities. At the same time, it opens up a space for cross-local connections, thereby promoting the process of cultural exchange and acculturation in regions.

However, digital transformation is a new creative environment and space where creativity is not limited, so control will become more difficult than traditional cultural management methods. Therefore, to preserve the cultural identity of festivals with specific characteristics of localities, each person working in culture needs to enhance the spirit of creativity based on the practice of local cultural development, linking creativity with survival.

Digital transformation should be understood as a means to bring local culture closer to many other regional cultures, as well as help people in neighboring provinces and regions to access it, but it is not the decisive factor in regional cultural values. People are still the core of all cultural creation and adaptation. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) will help a locality simulate cultural activities in the form of promotional videos, but without the constant supervision of cultural workers, it is very possible that one day, the cultural identity value of that region will be "transformed" in a way that is difficult to control.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/ap-dung-so-hoa-can-trong-de-giu-tinh-nguyen-ban-cua-le-hoi-10301140.html