Every spring, villages hold village festivals. This is an activity imbued with long-standing cultural features, connecting the community, increasing solidarity, and is also an opportunity for unique and distinctive cultural heritages to be practiced and performed by communities... However, over time, today's village festivals have changed a lot, in some villages festivals have been more or less transformed and commercialized...
The attraction of village festivals
Every year, the country has more than 9,000 large and small festivals, equivalent to nearly 30 festivals per day. There are famous village festivals such as Co Loa, Le Mat, Phu Dong, Lim... Among them, village festivals are like a treasure trove preserving traditional cultural values and long-standing customs and practices. This is also an opportunity for unique, distinctive cultural heritages, imbued with the roots, to be practiced and performed by communities.
In Hanoi, one of the unique festivals that attracts many locals and visitors is the "Pig" procession festival in La Phu village (La Phu commune, Hoai Duc district). On January 13 every year, according to traditional customs, La Phu villagers hold a procession of "Pig" to the village communal house to offer sacrifices to the village's tutelary god. According to tradition, the festival is an occasion for La Phu villagers to commemorate Tinh Quoc Tam Lang under the reign of Hung Due Vuong the 6th, who fought against the enemy to protect the country.
Also in Hanoi, the Sai Temple Festival in Thuy Loi village, Thuy Lam commune, Dong Anh district, is held annually from December 30 to January 15. The highlight is the fake king procession on January 11. This year, the festival takes place from January 28 to February 12 at the Sai Temple historical relic site.
Sai Temple Festival with its unique king procession ritual demonstrates community solidarity; expresses deep gratitude and prays for favorable weather, good crops, happiness for every family, and prosperity for the country.
And every year on the 10th day of the second lunar month, Nhat Tan ward (Tay Ho district, Hanoi) holds a festival to commemorate Uy Linh Lang Dai Vuong. The festival is imbued with traditional cultural features, expressing the respect and admiration of local people for Uy Linh Lang, who has contributed to the country and the people, repelling foreign invaders to protect the Fatherland; arousing pride in the cultural and historical traditions of the village. After the ceremony, the festival has many traditional games and art performances such as: Cheo singing, Tuong acting, performing traditional musical instruments, playing human chess, etc.
In Phu Tho, there is the Huu Bo village festival in Phung Nguyen commune, Lam Thao district. The village festival takes place annually from January 13 to 16. In particular, the palanquin procession is held once every 5 years, usually on even years. The festival is not only a cultural beauty in the spiritual life of the village but also an opportunity for the descendants of the village to gather under the ancient, solemn communal house roof, burn incense to commemorate the merits of their ancestors since the founding of the country; building the village and homeland to become more and more prosperous.
Sharing with reporters, Mr. Phan Duan - Head of the Organizing Committee of the Huu Bo village festival said: Although the village festival today has changed somewhat, it is still an activity imbued with traditional cultural beauty in the spiritual life of the villagers. This is also an opportunity for descendants from near and far to gather under the ancient and solemn communal house roof, light incense sticks to remember the merits of their ancestors; and educate the younger generations about tradition and morality of "remembering the source of water when drinking".
Eliminate offensive behavior
Talking about the meaning and beauty of village festivals, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Huy - former Director of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology said that since ancient times, village festivals have played a very important role in the spiritual life of Vietnamese people; in which, the great significance of the festival is to unite the community of residents in a village, commune, hamlet, or hamlet.
“The village festival is a cultural heritage of a village; often associated with the worship of the village’s tutelary god, so during the rituals and recreational activities, people will become more spiritually connected; raising awareness among descendants in protecting, preserving and promoting the good traditions of their ancestors” – Mr. Huy shared.
As a folk cultural activity, an indispensable spiritual food for the people, however, over time, today's village festivals have changed a lot, in some village festivals they have been more or less transformed and commercialized; becoming a place for some people to pray for benefits, for promotion; there is even disguised gambling....
Sharing about the changes of festivals in general and village festivals in particular, Dr. Tran Huu Son - Institute of Applied Folklore Research said that the space of village festivals is increasingly developing strongly. If before it was just an empty village space, now the space has tourists, from which requires how to manage the work, how to innovate the activities?...
“There are village festivals that develop quickly, causing many unmanageable problems, leading to a situation of “if you can’t manage it, ban it”, losing the sacredness of the village festival. That is truly regrettable,” said Mr. Son.
According to Dr. Tran Huu Son, to preserve and promote the value of village festivals while still being in line with today's development trends, it is necessary to strengthen the role of state management. That is management according to documents and institutions of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Along with that, management by sanctions for organizing festivals. "It is necessary to strengthen propaganda for people to be aware of offensive behaviors that damage festivals so that they do not participate in those behaviors" - Mr. Son emphasized.
Sharing the same view, MSc. Nguyen Dac Toi - former Head of Heritage Research Department (Institute for Cultural and Development Research) said that preserving traditional values and developing them in harmony with today's life requires the synchronization of the entire system of factors, from the role of the people, the government, scientists to the media.
"People play an important role in preserving and conserving local cultural beauty. In addition, the government needs to demonstrate its role in appropriate management and regulation, ensuring harmony between tradition and modernity. Accompanying the people and the government are the contributions of scientists in researching, preserving and promoting cultural values. The media also plays an important role in promoting and raising public awareness of the significance of village festivals," said Mr. Toi.
Source: https://daidoanket.vn/gin-giu-net-dep-hoi-lang-10300057.html
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