As the sounds of spring are filling the air, the annual festival drumbeats of representatives of 28 ethnic communities in Dong Mo also resound loudly.
As scheduled, every New Year, at the Vietnam Ethnic Culture and Tourism Village (Cultural Village - Dong Mo, Son Tay, Hanoi) is always solemn and attractive. For the past fourteen years, since the Cultural Village opened to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long, Hanoi, this place has become a special cultural activity address for the people of the North, not only during Tet and Spring.
The Spring Festival across the country takes place here annually, with many unique and diverse activities. I am proud to be one of the citizens of the Capital who regularly attends this event, enjoying every emotion when welcoming Spring with representatives of ethnic communities and immersing myself in unique and joyful folk songs and dances.
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| President Vo Van Thuong and locals dance xoe. (Photo: Thanh Ha) |
Solemn and warm
Speaking of this important festival, it is impossible not to mention the regular attendance of State leaders and ministries and branches... This year, President Vo Van Thuong came to wish a happy New Year and join in the fun. Also attending the event were Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha; Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung; Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Education Nguyen Dac Vinh; Chairman of the Office of the President Le Khanh Hai... The festival was also attended by representatives of central ministries, departments and branches, Hanoi city, a number of localities and a large number of people from 28 ethnic communities in 16 provinces representing ethnic groups and regions across the country.
Just arriving at the entrance of the Cultural Village, I heard the solemn sound of gongs and cymbals of the Central Highlands people. The space was filled with the excitement, enthusiasm and joy of the people welcoming the New Year. As President Vo Van Thuong shared, it is "a cultural space full of vitality and many colors of the ethnic groups in the great family of Vietnamese ethnic groups".
After enjoying the music program of ethnic minorities with the content of celebrating the Party, celebrating Spring, celebrating the country's renewal, everyone listened to the President's sharing at the event: "Our country Vietnam is a beautiful country, with a long-standing culture, a heroic history and a culture rich in identity, unified in diversity.
Through thousands of years of building and defending the country, 54 ethnic groups have created a unique and rich cultural treasure with good values that vividly demonstrate the process of living, working, building and protecting the country, depicting the character and beauty of the Vietnamese people. This is truly a source of pride, a valuable asset of the nation, a source of endogenous strength, fostering the great national unity bloc, and an attractive force for international friends, a soft power that contributes to raising the country's position and prestige in the international arena."
The President was pleased to know that, in recent years, at the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism, there have been many effective and unique activities with hundreds of festivals and events held, highlighting the beauty of Vietnamese culture, attracting domestic and foreign tourists to visit, experience culture, and community tourism, affirming the everlasting vitality of traditional cultural values of the nation in development, exchange, integration and international cooperation.
Emphasizing that, in order for culture to truly be an endogenous resource, a strong driving force for the country to develop sustainably, leading to prosperity and happiness, the President reminded everyone to continue to preserve and foster good cultural values, bring culture deeply into social life, consolidate and create a healthy and progressive spiritual foundation, contributing to building a modern and unique Vietnamese person.
“Cultural diversity is the source of exchange, innovation and creativity. I hope that in the coming time, we will continue to have many initiatives and creative ways to join hands in building a space for cultural exchange among Vietnamese ethnic groups, respecting and protecting the diverse expressions of culture, people, ethnic groups and regions. I believe that a joyful, harmonious and connected space created by diverse cultural communities is a solid premise to promote exchange and understanding, harmony and mutual respect among ethnic groups, creating cohesion, fostering the great national unity bloc, contributing to the cultivation of Vietnamese culture, Vietnamese strength, Vietnamese values - a strong internal resource for national development”, the President affirmed.
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| Mr. Pham Van Quyen, Deputy Head of the Management Board of the Vietnam Ethnic Culture Village (fourth from right) joins the ethnic people and overseas Vietnamese in the Muong ethnic cultural space during the festival. (Photo: Thanh Ha) |
"Seeing xoe dance is seeing spring"
Right after the main ceremony, I and the crowd eagerly went to the festival, admiring the idea of building the Village from several decades ago. It is hard to find a place in the world that has a space for representatives of ethnic groups across the country to live and maintain and preserve village culture like the Cultural Village. Not only during the Spring days but throughout the year, at any time, visitors can immediately experience many cultural regions at one location right on the outskirts of Hanoi.
At the Bru - Van Kieu ethnic minority community, I was truly moved to witness the President performing the seed planting ceremony with the village elders in the Rice Sowing Festival. This is considered the most important cultural activity in the religious life and community life of the Bru - Van Kieu, praying for the gods to preserve and protect the growth of seeds for a harvest with heavy grains and spikes. Since 2021, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued a Decision to recognize the Rice Sowing Festival of the Bru - Van Kieu ethnic minority as a national intangible cultural heritage.
Mr. Pham Van Quyen, Deputy Head of the Cultural Village Management Board, said: “With the goal of serving tourists, families representing ethnic groups have been recreating and preserving the traditional customs of their ethnic groups, specifically music, costumes, cuisine, lifestyle... as well as other products such as traditional medicine, rice wine...”.
By chance, in the Thai village, I met Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, an Italian Vietnamese who came back to visit her hometown and came to the tourist village. She happily shared: “I am very happy to come here for a tour. Being able to attend the festival, seeing the President wish everyone a Happy New Year, I feel so close. Especially, I got to dance xoe dance with the ethnic people. I often tell Italians about the beautiful festivals of Vietnam.
Ms. Lo Thi Tom (Thai ethnic group) smiled and said: “When Tet comes, we take care of each flower bed and fence together to make our house more beautiful and welcome visitors. This year, the Thai house area has an additional row of Northwest Ban flowers and a peach garden. Every year, there are a few new and interesting things. This year, the Village Management Board has added a water wheel and a bridge connecting the Thai village garden to the Buckwheat field. We are very happy. This is truly a familiar space where we were born, grew up and lived in the village.”
I was lucky to meet Meritorious Artisan Bui Thanh Binh, Director of the Muong Cultural Heritage Museum of Hoa Binh Province, Head of the Muong ethnic village group, who was introducing Muong gongs. The artist shared: “Muong gongs have a total of 12 pieces, representing 12 months of the year, with 4 sets of sounds representing the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. To truly understand Muong gongs, only those who own them have the opportunity to understand them deeply.”
The stories of Meritorious Artisan Bui Thanh Binh are like Muong gongs, fascinating and endless as their sounds resonate forever. I am happy that preserving culture is not only the policy and direction of Party and State leaders, but also for compatriots far from their homeland like Ms. Thanh, ethnic minorities like Ms. Tom, Mr. Binh… preserving culture for them is a responsibility and a passion.
Just like that, the sound of Spring not only in the Cultural Village but also across the country will last forever, forever beautiful, from generation to generation.
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