January of the Year of the Dragon - the month that kicks off the 2024 Festival season - has ended peacefully. Complaints about price gouging, robberies, and fights have decreased significantly.
Less chaotic and offensive
According to statistics from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, our country currently has nearly 9,000 traditional festivals. The festivals are held at various times of the year, but the most concentrated are still at the beginning of the new year. Many festivals start right after Tet such as: Huong Pagoda Festival, Dong Da Mound Festival, Ba Chua Kho Festival, Giong Temple Festival, Na Nhem Spring Festival, Tich Dien Festival, Con Son - Kiep Bac Spring Festival... During January, almost all festivals, historical and cultural relics are crowded with visitors. Fortunately, most of the Giap Thin Spring Festivals 2024 take place joyfully, safely, with little chaos or commercialization.
Offering procession ritual at the Huyen Thien Hac De Spring Giap Thin Festival 2024 (Ba Dinh district, Hanoi). Photo: Dinh Trung
At Soc Temple, in previous years, the Gióng Festival had many people pushing, trampling and even fighting to grab the lucky money, but this year it took place quite solemnly and orderly with traditional rituals. At the Tran Temple Seal Opening Ceremony in Nam Dinh, the Organizing Committee moved the seal distribution activity from the night of the 14th to the early morning of the 15th day of the first lunar month and extended it to many days later, so the offensive images such as people pushing, throwing money at the seal palanquin or fighting over the lucky money seal did not recur.
Huong Pagoda Festival is always the focus of attention when organizing and holding festivals in previous years, there were many problems with environmental sanitation, soliciting customers, many uncivilized manifestations in places of worship... but during the Giap Thin Spring Festival, the situation of ticket evasion, soliciting customers, asking for more money almost no longer exists, security, order, and environmental sanitation are all rated quite well by tourists.
Despite many positive changes, festival management and organization still have shortcomings, and long-standing problems still exist. Previously, there were concerns about the "theatricalization" and "grandiosity" of festivals, excessive government intervention in festival activities, festival subjects being left out, not being allowed to participate in important ceremonies, causing traditional heritages to be distorted, distorted, and far from good traditional values... No one can confirm that these problems have been completely overcome in the 2024 Festival season.
In particular, the debate on “pig-chopping and buffalo-stabbing” festivals seemed to have ended when many offensive and violent festivals were “whistled” but until now, there is still a lingering regret in the festival’s host community. In festivals with lucky money-snatching, this activity has been cut out, making the festival less controversial, but people think that because of that, the festival is “less fun”.
The ritual of carrying the fake king at Sai temple festival, Thuy Loi village (Thuy Lam commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi) in the spring of Giap Thin 2024. Photo: Dinh Trung
These can be seen at the Hien Quan Festival. In 2023, a large number of young people gathered in front of the temple yard, shouting and pushing to rob the pho right at the temple's sacrificial yard. During this year's festival season, Hien Quan people continued to surround the temple to rob the pho, forcing the authorities to intervene to restore order.
At Lim Festival, after the 2023 Festival season, the practice of "receiving money with a hat" was "strictly prohibited" but seemed ineffective. In 2024, the Tien Du district government had to "step down", officially allowing the Lien Anh and Lien Chi singers to receive "tips" from tourists, but noted that "it must be culturally appropriate and in accordance with traditional values".
Is the set of criteria on festival culture enough to "manage"?
2024 is also the first festival season to implement the "Criteria for cultural environment in traditional festivals" issued by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. According to the representative of the Department of Grassroots Culture, this set of criteria is an important tool to improve the effectiveness of organizing festivals in a civilized, healthy and economical direction. This is also a tool and measure to evaluate the management capacity as well as the effectiveness of festival activities in the locality. Through this set of criteria, localities build a civilized and healthy festival cultural environment; preserve and promote traditional cultural values, good customs and practices and spread them in social life; gradually eliminate backward customs and practices...
Many cultural experts believe that having a set of criteria for cultural environment in festivals is necessary. According to Prof. Dr. Tu Thi Loan, Chairman of the Science and Training Council - Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts, the set of criteria clearly stipulates everything from the organization process, festival content to ensuring fire safety, environmental sanitation, food safety and hygiene... so that the community as well as local authorities have a basis for implementation. However, Prof. Dr. Tu Thi Loan emphasized the role of the community, because the community is the one who is closest to practicing and adjusting behaviors in the festival.
Festival "Welcoming King Hung to the village to celebrate Spring" at Dinh Ca, Tien Kien commune, Lam Thao district, Phu Tho. Photo: Dinh Trung
According to Prof. Dr. Nguyen Chi Ben - Former Director of the National Institute of Culture and Arts, the set of criteria covering all festivals is a bit broad and general, not closely following the structure and space of a traditional festival. In order to be able to apply it, localities must come up with specific criteria for their locality. Mr. Nguyen Chi Ben believes that in order for the set of criteria to truly follow the core of traditional festivals, the development unit should carefully consult the opinions of cultural and festival researchers.
From another perspective, cultural researcher Nguyen Hung Vi assessed that the Criteria Set is a regulatory tool for festivals to take place in a safe and civilized manner. However, it is regrettable that this Criteria Set focuses on management and has not yet provided a plan for promoting and developing festivals. From there, Mr. Nguyen Hung Vi recommended that we should have a very specific plan for promoting and developing festival heritages.
“Management is the responsibility of the State agency, so it is understandable that the set of criteria leans towards management. But the law of life as well as festivals is development and our time is just a slice of the general development. In that slice, how we create value for the future, that is what should be emphasized,” said Mr. Nguyen Hung Vi.
Cultural experts agree that festivals are born to meet the spiritual and cultural needs of indigenous people; each festival has its own meaning associated with the traditions and spiritual life of that locality. "Each village beats its own drum, each village worships its own Saint". Therefore, organizing festivals must definitely be the work of the indigenous community. To have civilized and safe festival seasons, it is indispensable to have the cooperation of the community, and to have thorough and comprehensive research on festivals by scientists. From there, find fundamental solutions, to "separate the muddy to bring out the clear", spread good values and minimize negativity at festivals... On the government's side, it is necessary to have festival management measures that are suitable to the general trend and do not affect or lead to the disappearance of festivals as a heritage left by our ancestors.
The Vu
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